The John Mahama 24hr Economic policy and a National Menstrual Pad Bank will revolutionize this Country

The 2024 John Mahama ticket is proving to be the only solution to many of the challenges facing the Youth and the Girl child.

The 24 hr economy will be the spanner to tighten the bolts of the excalating unemployment rate in Ghana, particularly, youth unemploymen. It will create more vacancies in all sectors of the economy particularly the services sector for more hands to be employed, thereby boosting productivity and increases revenue generation for the government. This will further expand the economy for more jobs for the youth. Through the provision of incentives to the private sector whiles revamping state owned enterprises; the factories etc and with the necessary security measures in place, the Ghanaian youth can be assured of a descent job in 2025 and beyond. If in doubt, look at Sydney, USA, UK etc which all have deployed this policy and raking in not less than $5bn annually for further expansion of the economy.

School drop out rate is higher among girls than the boys at the basic level. Aside the financial burden on parents owing to the cancellation of free uniforms, free exercise books, free sandals and capitation grant by the Alhaji Bawumia led Economic Management Team under the sleepy president Nana Addo, another major stumbling block to the girl child education is the Inability to access menstrual pads during menstruation. This is due to the government's insensitive imposition of, and hikes in taxes on, sanitary pads, making affordability of these critical material difficult. This has led to many girls unable to continue their education.

To solve this challenge and liberate the girl child to continue her education whiles menstruating, the John Mahama ticket will seek to implement an earlier policy to that effect. This will be the *establishment of menstrual pad banks (MPB) from national all the way down to the district levels*. The MPB will ensure free supply of pads to the regions and then to the districts for onward distribution to all basic school girls. The MPB will be under the Ghana Education Service as the incoming administration will seek not to create additional needless institutions for a task that an existing institution can easily do.

At the same time, taxes on menstrual pads will be scrapped to make it affordable to other users. The Pad cannot be a luxury item to warrant luxury tax. Because President Nana Addo's wife, H.E. Rebecca lives in luxury, the president saw the pad as a luxury item, classified it as such and imposed hefty luxury taxes on it. The Mahama regime will scrap it immediately coming into office.

Finally, in addition to the removal of the pad taxes, the Mahama regime will revolutionized the manufacturing of pads locally by providing factories the necessary incentives.

The Pad manufacturing factories will operate for 24 hrs. This will require more factory hands, hence jobs for the youth. With more employed, more people will pay taxes, hence more revenue to government. More revenue means more development as government will be using these revenue to invest in productive sectors of the economy to expand. As the factories operate 24 hrs with more jobs created, we will be in a better place to buy and distribute pads to the MPB for onward distribution to beneficiaries at the lower levels. Abundance in supply will make it cheaper to the consumer couples with removable of taxes on it.

Scotland, Kenya, Botswana and the latest country, Lesotho, etc are running this policy of free pads for the girl child.

Together, we can rebuild Ghana through the John Mahama ticket.

The NPP and Bawumia can continue with their promise to build toilets and let the NDC and John Mahama keep to their 24 hr economy for job creation and provision of free sanitary pads through the establishment of the Menstrual Pad Bank under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and GES.

B. T. Sly
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