Regulate prostitution and tax it – MP

Member of Parliament for Obuasi Akrofuom, Kwabena Appiah Pinkrah says prostitution is a major source of employment and as long as people earn some form of income from practising it, the vice should be regulated so that government can generate revenue from it.

“Prostitution is a main stream job and those who engage in it are earning money so they should be taxed by the state and the practice should be regularized so that the professionals among the prostitutes will be registered,” he said on Adom FM’s Burning Issues programme on Monday October 28.

Mr Appiah Pinkrah was speaking in relation to a swoop carried out by Takoradi police during which they arrested 23 prostitutes in an area close to the popular night hangout Vienna City.

He added that if the practice is regularized, those who engage in it will undergo regular health checks in order to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

Mr Appiah Pinkrah pointed out that instead of concentrating on the moral and emotional sentiments, the state should rather focus on the revenue that can be derived from the sex trade.

“My pastors can say what they want to say but I still maintain that the practice should be regularized so that the state can tax those who engage in it,” he suggested.

“We should not rob those who engage in prostitution and the state the opportunity to earn money,” he reiterated.

Asked if he would allow his children to engage in prostitution, Mr Appiah Pinkrah said those who engaged in the act don’t tell their parents and “my children will not either ask for my permission if they want to engage in prostitution but they should be old enough to do that and if they did, they would earn income and hence should be taxed”.

He stressed that taxing prostitutes will help the state financially and it will control the movements of those who engage in it.