GRA Commissioner-General pledges management support for retired staff
The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Nti has pledged continuous management support for the retired staff of the Authority and assured them that their skills and experiences would come to bear on the drive to attain full compliance in tax administration.
In an address read on his behalf at the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Retired Customs Officers Association (RECOA), Mr Nti said management had adopted measures whereby the experiences of retired officers, including retired staff of the former Internal Revenue Service and Value Added Tax are tapped as consultants.
He said the GRA management would continue to offer support in the areas of payment of medicals, establishment of a suitable secretariat, and recruitment of qualified wards of retirees into GRA, among others.
He said ten years in the life of RECOA should bolster it to develop plans that would give the Association the leverage it deserved.
On his part, the Commissioner of Customs, Mr Isaac Crentsil, asked the Association to position itself as a proactive body which would be able to furnish the Commissioner of Customs and the management team with innovative ideas and suggestions on the way forward in several areas of Customs operations, particularly on customs controls and safeguards against revenue leakages.
He said it was the expectations of Customs Management that RECOA members in the Clearing and Forwarding industry and the Import and Export business would not only insist on the strict compliance of customs procedures by the practitioners in the fields, but would help to nib in the bud most of the unacceptable practices currently being discovered in that area.
Mr Crentsil said it was necessary that the Association showed concern and interest in its former employer’s progress and achievements by meeting some of the expectations, saying that was the only way to justify why RECOA should be assisted and made a vibrant partner in the affairs of Customs and the Ghana Revenue Authority in general.
In his welcome address, the President of RECOA, Nene Samuel Aguddey, said while some retirees from the security services and other para-militray services, e-bankers or accountants were at times redeployed to become Chief Executives of other institutions, the ex-commissioners of Customs are denied such chances
“We would have loved to see an ex-Commissioner of Customs on the GRA Board or any other Boards within the government. In addition we would be grateful if the wards of retirees who qualified could be considered for employment in the customs,” he said.
Nene Aguddey appealed to the Commissioner-General to provide RECOA with a suitable office accommodation, means of transport, ID cards and an upward review of medical refunds in addition to the construction of a clinic to take care of both serving and retired officers.
RECOA was formed 10 years ago and aims among others to promote the welfare of the retired officers of Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority and to offer meaningful advice to the GRA through the Customs Division as and when necessary.
Source: GNA