Shake up imminent at GRA hierarchy
A major shake up is expected at the top hierarchy of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), reports indicate.
Asaase Radio’s sources indicate that both Colonel Kwadwo Damoah (Rtd) and Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah are not likely to have their contracts that have come to an end renewed.
The two have attained the statutory retirement age and the presidency has been markedly reluctant in this second term to renew contracts of appointees who have attained their retirement age.
GRA has also been at the centre of the revenue-mobilisation challenges in the country, notwithstanding heightened efforts by the authority to keep the revenues coming in these challenging economic times. Col Damoah’s case has also not been helped by the indictment by the Office of Special Prosecutor, which held that Labianca Company Ltd, a frozen food importer, had evaded import duties, through influence-peddling by the owner, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh, an elected member of the Council of State.
The Commissioner of the Customs Division reacted to the Special Prosecutor with words that have been condemned as threatening and improper.
Meanwhile, the Customs Staff Association, has reacted to the media reports, describing it as “distractive and worrying.”
In a press statement issued on Friday, August 12, the Association expressed its unflinching support for both Colonel Kwadwo Damoah (Rtd) and Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, asserting that there has considerable improvement in the performance of the Customs Division resulting in the achievement of annual revenue targets from 2020 to date.
Csa Press Release by Fuaad Dodoo on Scribd
Serving GRA leaders
Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah is the current Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority. He is credited with bringing to the GRA, his vast experience in leadership, management, and banking operations.
Colonel Kwadwo Damoah (Rtd), serves as the Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Owusu-Amoah was appointed acting commissioner on 30 May 2019 and subsequently confirmed on 19 May 2020. Prior to his appointment as commissioner, he had been a board member of the Ghana Revenue Authority from May 2017.
Col. Damoah was appointed a technical advisor to the commissioner general from October 2017 to June 2019.
Edward Gyambrah, on the other hand, is the officer -in-charge of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
The GRA
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was established in 2009 as a merger of the three revenue agencies, i.e. the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Value Added Tax Service (VATS) and the Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB) in accordance with the Ghana Revenue Authority Act 2009, (Act 791).
GRA’s core mandate is to ensure maximum compliance with all relevant tax laws in order to ensure a sustainable revenue stream for government, trade facilitation and a controlled and safe flow of goods across the country’s borders.
The Authority also administer a number of international agreements that govern Ghana’s relations with other tax jurisdictions and institutions such as World Customs Organisation Protocols, World Trade Organisation Protocols, Double Taxation and Exchange of Information Agreements.
The Authority is made up of two operational divisions; Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD), and Customs Division (CD) with assistance from the Support Services Division (SSD) and the Commissioner General’s Secretariat.
