Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has sworn in Professor Stephen Adei as the Board Chairman of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Mr. Eugene Asante Ofosuhene was also sworn in as a Board Member.
A news release by the ministry described Prof. Adei as an accomplished change agent and fearless patriot, while Mr Ofosuhene, a former Controller & Accountant-General, as a disciplined professional.
“Both are men of unquestioned integrity,” the release pointed out on Friday few hours after the swearing in.
The contribution of the two new members of the Board is seen as essential to ensuring the achievement of GRA’s objective of revenue mobilisation in an era of Ghana Beyond Aid.
“Government is aiming to raise GH¢ 45.2bn in domestic revenues as the 2019 target even though GRA is 7.3% behind target as at end of July”, Ken Ofori-Atta said, adding that “although the country’s tax revenues have grown consistently over the last few years, Ghana’s tax-to-GDP ratio at 17.6% is still well below the middle-income country average for Africa.”
Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta told the new Board members of government’s faith in their ability to contribute towards the elimination of revenue administration inefficiencies, undue external influences, unassigned ‘security personnel’ and corruption.
The Minister charged them to bring renewed hope, stressing that he has strong trust in their high moral standing and patriotism.
He called on the citizenry to fulfil their civic responsibilities to pay their taxes. He also mentioned the new partnership between Faith-Based Organisations and Government to encourage their congregations to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” and promote a new responsiveness for all citizens to protect the public purse.
“GRA is well-positioned to lead Ghana’s aspiration to use digital technologies to improve the citizen experience, broaden the tax base and to particularly capitalise on the widespread penetration of mobile phones in the economy”, said the Finance Minister.
The Minister Ofori-Atta charged the two new board members to help GRA:
- Build a strong reputation for discipline, integrity and righteousness
- Be a meritocratic organisation that is known for high performance
- Have digitised internal processes in Custom and Domestic taxes that improve responsiveness to the public
- Fully implement digital systems that enable citizens access to tax services anytime and anywhere
In response, the new Chairperson for the Board, Professor Adei, said “I have an absolute zero-tolerance for corruption, and as captains of the ship, we must be seen not to do wrong”.
On his part, Mr. Ofosuhene stressed that “the era of using GRA for personal interest is over”.
The Minister thanked Mr. Kofi Nti for his meritorious service and commended him for his diligence in establishing a platform for a new and transformed GRA.
Kofi Nti retires
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Attah has also accepted the retirement notification of Mr Kofi Nti, the current Commissioner-General. He is expected to finally bow out on October 1st 2019.
Mr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, Commissioner for Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD), will become the acting Commissioner-General also responsible for DTRD.
Source: 3news.com | Ghana