97 Customs officers transferred

Ninety seven officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authori­ty (GRA) have been transferred to vari­ous sectors of the division.

The transfers were effected by the Com­missioner of the Customs Division as part of measures instituted to revamp the division and make it responsive and effective, in line with existing regulations.

The breakdown of the transfers is: Tema, 47; Head Office, 27; Jamestown, 17; Kotoka International Airport, three; Elubo, two; Aflao, three; Ho, one; Bolgatanga, one, and Takoradi; one.

A press statement issued by the Cus­toms Division said the transfers had become imperative to revitalise the human resource capacity of the division to make use of specialised skills, experience and qualities of personnel working across the country.

That, it said, was in response to reserva­tions by stakeholders over the quality of service and alleged unprofessional conduct by some customs staff.

The movement of staff also recognises the need to balance the human, financial and logistical resources available and thus ensure that staff movement does not impose financial constraints or unduly dis­tort family livelihood of affected staff,” it said.

Meanwhile, the statement said the com­missioner had instituted measures, includ­ing human capacity building, to ensure that the division fulfilled its mandate of assess­ing, collecting, accounting and protecting all taxes due.

It assured all stakeholders of the divi­sion’s commitment to deliver professional customer service, ensure discipline and integrity and fulfil the expectations of the government, taxpayers and the public.

Consequently, it said the officers of the Customs Division “are ready to receive any complaints relating to misconduct of its staff and will soon make available hotlines for the public to seek complaints resolution and information on policies and process­es”.