Kumasi, Sept.04, GNA – Officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have been urged to work extra hard to meet the revenue target set for the Division this year.
Colonel (Rtd) Kwadwo Damoah, Commissioner of Customs Division, who made the call said, though the outbreak of the coronavirus had had severe impact on revenue collections, there was the need for the officers to go an extra mile to collect more revenue for the state.
Additionally, the initial challenges on the implementation of the Integrated Customs Management System affected the revenue targets in the early months of the year.
Addressing a durbar of officers of the Ashanti Regional Command of the Division at a one day working visit to Kumasi, Colonel Damoah said things had started picking up in the months of July and August and there was the need for the officers to work hard to meet the targets.
The visit was to interact and familiarize himself with the officers of the Ashanti Regional Command and assess their working conditions as well as plans to address some of the challenges facing them.
Colonel Damoah said the COVID-19 had severely affected the volumes of imports into the country and thus impacted negatively on revenue collection at the country’s ports.
This had also affected the finances of the Division since the revenue shortfalls had also affected the amount of money retained for operations at the various commands.
Colonel Damoah also spoke on the dwindling staff strength of the Division and said a total of 350 officers retired from the services of the Division between 2019 and August 2020 alone.
He said management was working hard to get clearance to recruit additional staff to fill the gaps.
Mr. Opoku Kwarteng, the Ashanti Sector Commander, applauded the officers for their hard work and urged them to continue to perform their duties with diligence.
GNA