The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has urged the public to shun circulars suggesting that its officers were aiding smuggling activities along the borders of the country.
The GRA said that smuggling activities purportedly being carried out with the connivance of some officers of the Customs Division was not true.
A statement issued by the Authority, and signed by its Communication & Public Affairs Director, Florence Asante, reads: “We extend our appreciation to Joy News and Joy FM for bringing the alleged smuggling activities to our attention. That notwithstanding, we respond as follows:
As part of measures to achieve the 2022 revenue target, the Preventive wing of the Customs Division of GRA has in place a Taskforce to tackle smuggling at border points nationwide.
The Taskforce works together with officers stationed at various frontier stations to ensure that goods entering the country have passed through the proper Customs controls for payment of duties.
The Customs Division regularly carries out arrests of smugglers saving the country from unscrupulous persons who seek to evade payment of duties. The Division also continues to identify several unauthorised routes which some persons use in an attempt to bring goods into the country.
GRA is fully committed to ensuring that all staff work with integrity and has, therefore, commenced investigations into officers identified in the video production and any officer found culpable will be sanctioned accordingly.
We also assure the general public that GRA will not relent in its mandate of protecting the country’s borders while deterring persons who smuggle goods from and into the country.
We, therefore, use this opportunity to reiterate our call for stakeholders (including the media) to make available any information or evidence of smuggling and tax evasion to Management to assist in unearthing such activities and sanction those found culpable.
GRA has also instituted an Informant Award Scheme as a means of awarding individuals, entities, or organizations who offer confidential information to the GRA leading to the recovery of tax.
We encourage persons who have such information to call GRA on 0800-900-110 and we assure them that the information will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. If the information leads to the recovery of taxes, the informant will receive cash amounts in line with our Informant Policy.”
