By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Jan. 27, GNA – Assistant Commissioner Christiana Odi Adjei has made history as the first female sector commander of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Tema Collection.
Madam Adjei took over the Command on January 06, 2023, after her predecessor, Assistant Commissioner Julius Aweya Kantum retired from active service, making her the 26th Sector Commander.
A GRA Customs Division document available to the Ghana News Agency in Tema indicated that the first female sector commander was employed into the then Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) in 1992-1993 and underwent customs and para-military training at the CEPS Academy, Kpetoe.
She graduated and was posted to SHIA – Ho Collection on the grade of Revenue Assistant III (RAIII) after which she was later transferred to Tema Collection where she got promoted to Assistant Revenue Officer.
After a few years in Tema as an examination officer, she was transferred to Kotoka
International Airport (KIA) where she assumed the position of Second in Charge of the Courier Dome.
Between 2003 and 2005, she was among officers who worked with Destination Inspection Companies to give appropriate valuation and classification of goods in accordance with international standards.
Being transferred to Kumasi Collection on the rank of Senior Revenue Officer, she was part of the team, which set up the Kumasi Airport Office as a Revenue Collection Seat.
Madam Adjei then got back to Accra to work as a warehouse supervisor at the Accra Collection, James Town.
She acquired more knowledge from BankSwitch on Valuation and Classification of goods according to the World Customs Organization standards and she was part of the team, which took over that function from the Destination Inspection Companies in 2009.
She later became a compliance officer at the Tema Long Room on the rank of Principal Revenue Officer after which she held other managerial positions such as Second in Command Shed 10, Officer-in-Charge ACS Terminal and Officer-in-Charge Fishing Harbour.
The new sector commander, in 2010 got transferred as a Chief Revenue Officer to the Customs Headquarters where she worked at the Customs Technical Services Bureau, where she occupied the Compliance seat, and performed the duties of a Compliance Officer and Supervisor, during the smooth Implementation of ICUMS and assisted officers to quickly learn and use the ICUMS.
She attained the Assistant Commissioner rank of Customs in 2020 and held the position of AC Warehousing at the Headquarters till the end of 2021, with oversight of bonded warehouses in Ghana.
Prior to her appointment as Tema Sector Commander, in 2022, she became the Sector Commander of the Accra Collection – James Town, in addition to the supervisory role of bonded warehouses, and was also in charge of manufacturers and free-zones in Accra operational area.
GNA