Commissioner of Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Col. Rtd. Kwadwo Damoah, has accused National Security operatives at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) of impeding their mandate of goods inspection.
Speaking about the issue in an interview, the Commissioner described the situation as embarrassing and unacceptable.
Adding that, even though the overall security arrangement at the Airport is vested in the institution, the law of customs does not permit them to hamper goods examination by custom officials.
“If you look at the customs act, we also have the responsibility of looking at things that are of security implication. If you are bringing in goods, are they goods that the law permits you to bring them in, for instance, if they are weapons, that is security implication, if you are bringing in food are they the type the appropriate state institution like Food and Drugs Authority permits us? ,” he stated.
“ And customs have to do that for every consignment that is coming in, the nature of it, whether it is permitted by law or not and if by law duties have to be paid on it. The other institution does not have the mandated expertise to ask people to pay duties,” he added.
Speaking further, the Commissioner noted the blocking of customs officials from inspecting certain goods may affect revenue mobilisation efforts.
In his view, the generic nature of his outfit must be allowed to freely carry out it duties without any interference.
“If you look at the customs way of doing things, everything has an inbuilt mechanism to deal with every eventuality so we have to be allowed.”
“When it gets to revenue an aspect of security, customs have a role to play and that role is mandated by status, by rules and regulations and that should be allowed to work,” he averred.
Col. Kwadwo Damoah, commenting also on revenue leakages, said if the issue of goods smuggling into the country were well guarded and revenue leakages blocked, the Customs Division would have exceeded its revenue target for last year.
