CDD boss: African governments must regulate and tax churches
The executive director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) Prof H Kwasi Prempeh has suggested to African governments to subject churches to the payment of income tax.
His call comes after the number of victims of a suspected starvation cult rose to at least 89 after more bodies were dug up in a Kenyan forest.
Most of the dead were found in shallow single and mass graves, while a few were found emaciated but later died.
There are fears the death toll could rise further as the local Red Cross said more than 200 people had been reported missing.
Sharing his thought on the development on Facebook on Wednesday (26 April), Prempeh called for some form of regulation of churches on the continent.
“You only have to listen to some of the things these sole proprietor preachers propagate and peddle on the airwaves to know that we are long overdue for a reset in State-Church relations. The current situation where there is zero entry barrier to the establishment or operation of a “church” is certainly not sustainable,” he said.
Prempeh added, “Let’s begin by doing away with blanket tax-exemption for churches and, instead, subject churches to income tax (a tax on their net income), granting each church tax credits or exemptions only upon auditable proof that incomes have been used to support missionary or charitable work.”
“The African State can no longer stand aloof. If the State continues to do nothing, the bad apples, who often have the most seductive messages and enticements, will not only outnumber the good, they will contaminate the whole barrel, sending many believers to their doom and making all of society worse off.”
“The same ‘consumer protection’ philosophy that underpins laws and regulations in areas like food and drug safety, securities, etc., could be applied to the regulation of the business of winning “souls,” Prempeh posted on Facebook.
The executive director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) Prof H Kwasi Prempeh has suggested to African governments to subject churches to the payment of income tax.
His call comes after the number of victims of a suspected starvation cult rose to at least 89 after more bodies were dug up in a Kenyan forest.
Most of the dead were found in shallow single and mass graves, while a few were found emaciated but later died.
There are fears the death toll could rise further as the local Red Cross said more than 200 people had been reported missing.
Sharing his thought on the development on Facebook on Wednesday (26 April), Prempeh called for some form of regulation of churches on the continent.
“You only have to listen to some of the things these sole proprietor preachers propagate and peddle on the airwaves to know that we are long overdue for a reset in State-Church relations. The current situation where there is zero entry barrier to the establishment or operation of a “church” is certainly not sustainable,” he said.
Prempeh added, “Let’s begin by doing away with blanket tax-exemption for churches and, instead, subject churches to income tax (a tax on their net income), granting each church tax credits or exemptions only upon auditable proof that incomes have been used to support missionary or charitable work.”
“The African State can no longer stand aloof. If the State continues to do nothing, the bad apples, who often have the most seductive messages and enticements, will not only outnumber the good, they will contaminate the whole barrel, sending many believers to their doom and making all of society worse off.”
“The same ‘consumer protection’ philosophy that underpins laws and regulations in areas like food and drug safety, securities, etc., could be applied to the regulation of the business of winning “souls,” Prempeh posted on Facebook.
