'He’s a joke, Ghanaians must not take him serious' — Kwaku Asafo-Agyei fires Bawumia for incentivising churches

Kwaku Asafo-Agyei [left] and Dr. Bawumia

The Vice President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has provided clarification on his recent comments regarding incentivizing churches instead of imposing taxes on them.

According to him, his remarks were made in jest and were taken out of context.

During a meeting with clergy members in the North East Region as part of his nationwide tour, Dr. Bawumia sought to clarify his earlier statement, emphasising the significant contributions of churches and faith-based institutions to the country's development.

"I made that statement within the context of acknowledging the significant contributions of churches and other faith-based institutions to the country, including the construction of schools, hospitals, and other vital infrastructure.

“Look at the number of hospitals the churches have built. Look at the number of universities the churches have built and faith-based organisations have built. Look at the number of people the churches and faith-based organisations take care of on a daily basis.

"Can you imagine, just take a thought for a moment, that you wake up tomorrow and all the schools, universities and hospitals the churches have built disappear? They just disappear. What would Ghana be like? Ghana will collapse. Isn’t it? We will not survive in this sort of situation because there will be chaos.

“So at that point I was joking and I said, oh…people are talking about taxing churches. I don’t believe, and we will not tax churches. Because if you look at the work the churches have done, then I was joking then, maybe we should have actually paid them for what they did, not really trying to tax them. But I wasn’t really saying we should pay churches, no. I am saying that we should give incentives to churches to do more,” he clarifies.

Reacting to Dr. Bawumia's clarification, Kwaku Asafo-Agyei, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communication team, criticised the Vice President, describing him as a joke and urging Ghanaians not to take him seriously as a presidential candidate.

"In fact, that statement alone is enough reason for Ghanaians not to take him [Bawumia] seriously. You’ve stood before clergy members - on a serious platform like that and later, you tell us it was just a joke…," Asafo-Agyei remarked during a panel discussion on Oyerepa TV’s Breakfast Time show.