Private universities in the country will be free from paying taxes if the New Patriotic Party (NPP) gains the mandate to govern the nation, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has promised.

Dr Bawumia, who was speaking at a Students Representative Council (SRC) forum at the Methodist University in Accra, said the party had identified tertiary education as a key component in the development of the nation, and, thus, needed to be easily accessible and affordable.

With a limited number of public universities and the proliferation of private tertiary institutions, the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana believed a tax holiday will serve as incentive for more institutions to absorb a huge number of senior high school leavers and deliver quality tuition as well.

“It is not a coincidence that about 80% of universities in Ghana are private universities. We should rather be encouraging the setting up of more private universities with tax incentives to reduce the burden on government,” he noted.

Section 6 of the Internal Revenue (Amendment) Act, Act 859 of 2013, recognises only “state-owned or state-sponsored educational institutions” as places of learning that qualify for tax exemption.

The Conference of Heads of Private Universities of Ghana (CHPUG) has been agitating for years, with appeals to government, to restore the tax-exempt status of private universities after an amendment of Section 6 of the Internal Revenue Act, Act 859 of 2000, to exclude private universities from paying taxes.