Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA) wish to propose to government to diversity funding streams of SADA by increasing levies on all alcoholic beverages in northern Ghana and using these levies to help fund SADA activities and the Regional Development Strategies initiated in each of the Regional Coordinating Councils in northern Ghana.
As a matter of fact, most people in northern Ghana particularly the Upper East Region have very strong desire for alcoholic beverages and will prioritize consumption of alcohol no matter the price levels. Introducing special levies besides the current taxes on these commodities will therefore result in more funding raised for poverty alleviation programmes and activities in northern savannah to improve livelihoods and well-being of the people.
To get the full support of every Ghanaian for these increased levies on alcoholic beverages, government must first of all enforce section 18 of the SADA Law which enjoins it to make annual budgetary allocations and introduce levies on non-petroleum imports into the country as some of the funding sources of SADA. A demonstration of a high level of transparency and accountability in the use of SADA resources is also key to getting public support for the proposal.
NORPRA wish to use this opportunity to urge government to, without further delay, release the 2013 and 2014 budget allocations to SADA that have not yet been disbursed to the authority.
In conclusion government is entreated to see these increased levies on alcoholic beverages as one of the right policy options and alternatives to ensure adequate, reliable and regular resource flow to the newly restructured and repositioned SADA.
Bismark Adongo Ayorogo
(Director)
0209313630
Source: GhanaWeb
