Pius Enam Hadzide, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA), has strongly criticized the National Democratic Congress (NDC), for its condemnation of the newly introduced 10% betting tax.
The implementation of the 10% betting tax, which forms part of the government’s strategy to generate additional revenue, has been met with widespread disapproval and apprehension.
In a statement signed by George Opare Addo, the NDC’s National Youth Organizer, the party’s youth wing announced a series of measures aimed at pressuring the government into retracting the 10% betting tax. The decision comes in response to the NDC’s perception of the tax policy as an onerous imposition that unfairly targets the nation’s youth and the wider betting industry.
But in a sharp rebuttal, Pius Hadzie expressed his dismay at the narrative being propagated by the NDC.
Speaking to Accra-based Citi News, he questioned the NDC’s logic which seemed to suggest that betting should be a solution for young people grappling with employment challenges.
“Let me just place it on record that, it is not just the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who has issues with betting and what betting can do to the value system of any country, even the Minority Leader, Ato Forson has called on the state to ban all forms of betting.”
“The young people are being prepared for the future and if you want to lead the country, you should be discussing policies and not that there are hardships, young people should resort to betting, a game of luck, a game of chance. And that we are not going to encourage the Ghanaian youth who is hardworking, entrepreneur, by the way, to continue to work hard.”
The NYA CEO slammed the NDC for inciting the youth to oppose the government. He argued that the focus should be on fostering discussions about policies rather than encouraging young people to rely on games of chance such as betting.
While acknowledging that Ghana, like many developing nations, faces challenges such as youth unemployment, Pius Hadzide assured the public that the government is actively implementing measures to address these concerns
“I do admit that just like other developing countries, there are challenges, youth unemployment, issues of education, issues of health…for the first time in this country, the young people of this country are now getting hope. Today, due to free SHS, hundreds of thousands of young people whose future would have been truncated at the basic level, are now in secondary schools,” he added.
