Bring Task force on revenue mobilisation to book — Customs
The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority has expressed concern about the behaviour of members of the Presidential Task Force on Revenue Mobilisation and asked that they should be brought to book.
Advertisement
The alleged behaviour of the team, according to the Customs Division, did not only cast a slur on the integrity of the division but could also tarnish the reputation of the Office of the President.
“This is because besides the wanton display of indiscipline, the task force members had “resorted to publishing confidential information about our revenue partners on air,” the division said.
The concerns were expressed in a report sighted by the Daily Graphic that gave details of the misconduct of the members of the Special Operations Unit at the premises and warehouses of some of the companies which had been cited for under-invoicing.
“We wish to request that the team be brought to order, to ensure they work within the customs laws and regulations they seek to enforce,” the report said.
The report suggested that the conduct of the members of the task force who visited the premises of Messrs United Steel Company Limited and the CCTC Bond Warehouse, among others, should be reported to the appropriate authorities such as the Internal Affairs Unit of the Customs Division, Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS) and Military Police of the Ghana Armed Forces for the necessary disciplinary sanctions.
The members allegedly verbally abused a female officer of the Customs Division at one of the warehouses and also threatened to “lock the officer up” if she failed to provide the information they wanted.
Media briefing
On Monday, June 24, this year, 30 companies were cited for under-invoicing the value of their goods at one of the country's entry points.
Other Trending Stories
The Presidential Taskforce on Revenue Mobilisation, which had impounded the under-invoiced goods belonging to the 30 companies, compelled the managers of the companies to pay the difference and penalty valued at over GH¢60,000.
At a media briefing in June, this year, a deputy minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Felix Ofosu Kwakye, told journalists that some officials of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and individuals connected to the 30 companies had been apprehended and placed in police custody.
The taskforce, which comprises representatives of the various security agencies who operate under cover to unearth activities at collection points, was constituted to check smuggling at the country's entry points.