Mahama calls for temporary reduction of CST

Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on government to temporarily reduce the Communication Service Tax (CST) as most people are working from home.

According to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, the act will grant some relief to citizens as they operate their various businesses virtually, with the help of the internet, amidst the 14-day lockdown.

He was of the view that the act, would make data more affordable and accessible for customers to continuously work from home amidst the Covid- 19 pandemic.

“Possible discussions between National Communication Authority (NCA) and the telecommunication companies could yield positive results in providing some relief to their customers during this difficult period,” he noted.

His comments come after the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications issued a statement encouraging citizens to judiciously use voice and data services.

According to the Chamber, many companies have resorted to using the internet to provide services and carry out their meetings following the lockdown, hence, people must reduce the way they consume data.

Commenting on matters arising, Mr Mahama urged government to as a matter of urgency, resolve the challenges that have caused the health workers of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to threaten a strike.

He described the issue as ‘disturbing’ since health workers are the most important people in winning the war against the coronavirus pandemic.

“The situation in Korle Bu is not an isolated case. Complaints of lack of PPEs and isolation facilities are coming from many health facilities across the country and it is important that steps are taken to identify areas of urgent need and supply the resources and logistics needed to build the confidence of our frontline health workers to battle this disease.”

The NDC leader indicated that there is a need for government to facilitate the process for locally produced face masks to make it affordable and accessible by the general public to contain the spread of the pandemic.

“These are not normal times and we should elevate our activities above the petty partisan, parochial mode that we have been used to in the recent period,” he added.