Africa-Press – Ghana. The Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has told the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) that corruption perception at the various ports remains high.
He says the country continues to lose revenue through the actions and inactions of clearing agents, shipping companies, and some customs officials.
Dr Amin Adam said these when he paid a working visit to the GRA on Monday February 19, his first major working visit after replacing Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister in the recent ministerial reshuffle done by President Akufo-Addo on February 14.
He said “It is also time to roll-out and expand the E-VAT mechanism, despite whatever challenges exist. We saw the potential collections from the Pilot Phase. We cannot continue to prolong and delay the implementation, especially under the programme. We must also work with renewed urgency towards reducing the human contact in the revenue processes and introduce a faceless assessment system. This is a sure way to give taxpayers a great experience and boost revenue mobilization.
“Commissioner-General, as you may be aware, the perception of corruption in the ports or trade and entry remains very high. I have seen reports that tend to confirm some of these perceptions. And I know you all have received similar reports. We continue to lose revenue through the actions and inactions of clearing agents, shipping companies and some of our own customs officials.
“I personally intend to visit the ports, together with some of your officers to engage and assess for myself some of the issues at first-hand. We need you to continue to instill discipline and minimize revenue leakages through misdescriptions, misclassification, and over and under-invoicing.”
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