Ahead of the manifesto launch of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, has outlined some of the incentives earmarked for the business sector in his next government.

The incentives, he explained in the Volta Region capital, Ho, on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 are aimed at helping small businesses consolidate and provide more job opportunities.

From 2021, the former President has promised to implement the following:

- Small businesses will be exempted completely from corporate income tax.

- Corporate income tax for medium size companies will be reduced from the current 25% to 15%.

- Newly established medium-sized companies that employ staff up to twenty (20) will be completely exempt from the payment of corporate income tax for one year.

- And newly established medium enterprises that employ more than twenty (20) staff will be exempted completely from the payment of corporate income tax for two years. And we will exempt Commercial vehicles, industrial and agricultural machinery from import duties. My government from 2021 will exempt vehicles and all other equipment imported into the country for commercial, industry and agricultural purposes from import duty.

The others are:

- Work towards the attainment of a minimum of 30% of all appointments going to women.

- Increase maternity leave from three to four months.

- Aggressively tackle and reduce maternal mortality by half from the current 319 per 100,000 live births.

- Ensure female socio-economic empowerment, enact the Spousal Rights Law, establish exclusive and secured shelters for abused women and children, and provide opportunities for all.

- Introduce and implement a Free Primary Health Care Plan.

- Pay, within one year, all who have funds locked up with the collapsed financial institutions.

- Establish a Financial Services Authority that will be responsible for ensuring that consumer financial markets work for consumers, providers and the economy as a whole.

- The Financial Services Authority will oversee all financial products and services that are offered to consumers and will effectively and efficiently prevent and stop the challenges that have confronted customers of Menzgold, DKM among others.

- Restore Ghanaian indigenous investment in the banking and financial sector through a tiered banking structure in order to restore viable credit sources for Ghanaian SMEs.

-Send back to site all contractors with valid contracts who have been sitting at home for 4 years without being paid for legitimate work done for government.

- Make immediate arrangements to pay all contractors their hard-earned monies deliberately withheld by the Nana Addo administration due to politics.

- Reinforce the independence of state institutions such as the Electoral Commission, Auditor General’s Department, EOCO and CHRAJ.

- Single sourced procurement – sole sourcing – will be an exception not the rule.

- In pursuance of social justice, I will vigorously push through a constitutional review that creates a fairer and just emoluments system and removes the distortions between Article 71 Officeholders and other public sector employees.

- Launch “Operation Sting” and be ruthless against all corrupt political appointees and public sector workers.

- It will be a requirement for all who serve in my Government to publish their assets declaration and have same audited by the Auditor General.

- Drastically reduce the size of government.

- Pay Assembly Members to perform the function of collecting accurate births and deaths information in their various electoral areas.