Over 80,000 pupils schooled on payment of taxes & enviromental conservation 

Over eighty thousand basic school students across four hundred and thirty four basic schools in all eleven municipals and districts of the Upper West Region have been educated on the need to pay taxes and conserve the environment. 

This was done by the National Commission for Civic Education NCCE as part of its 2018 Citizenship Week Celebration. 

The NCCE in the first phase of the celebration sensitized thousands of pupils in some two-hundred-and-fifty-two schools to the need to pay taxes, while the second phase focused on environmental governance. 

This came to light when the Upper West Regional Director of the NCCE Patience Sally Kumah briefed the media on the activities of the NCCE at Wa. 

The NCCE as established by Act of Parliament 1993 Act 452 is mandated to among other things create and sustain awareness on the principles and objectives of the Constitution. 

In fulfillment of this mandate, the Citizenship Week Celebration was instituted as an appendage of the Commission’s Annual Constitution Week. 

The phase one of the project which was held under the theme “Our Taxes Build a Great Ghana” was in collaboration with the Ghana Revenue Authority GRA was to educate basic school pupils on the need to grow up as responsible citizens by paying their taxes. 

The Upper West Regional Director Patience Sally Kumah at the pressing briefing said she was excited about the ability of the children to grasp the need to pay taxes as part of their civic responsibilities for sustainable development of the nation.
 
She said “It is surprising to see how these young students were able to understand what we were saying. After our presentation, the kind of questions they asked, the kind of feedback we got clearly showed that they indeed understood what we were they for. And we believe in catch them young, so once they understand this now they will grow up paying taxes and even share this new found knowledge with the relatives.”

The Phase two of the Annual Citizen Week Celebration which is still ongoing focuses on “The Environment and You; The role of the Ghanaian Child.” This is in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency EPA and the European Union EU. 

This phase examines the relationship between citizens and the environment and how Ghanaians can work to ensure good environmental practices. 

Madam Kumah was appalled about the apathy of some Ghanaians at conserving the environment.
 
“Ghana has demonstrated good faith with regard to good environmental governance through the ratification of international policies and enactment of national laws. Yet human activities against the environment are devastating and a source of worry. A cursory look around our environment one would find that it is full of nothing but littering of empty water sachets and use polythene bags and plastic waste,” she said.

She called for collaboration among the media, the EPA and other sector players to ensure a clean environment. 

The project which will to end in the coming days is expected to exceed the four-hundred-and-ninety basic schools targeted by the NCCE in the region.

Story by GBC's Emmanuel M-Abludo

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