[ 2016-01-05 ]

Kotoka Airport Customs Division exceeds target

For the first time in seven years, the Kotoka
International Airport (KIA) Customs Division of
the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has not only met
its revenue target, but exceeded it by
GH¢7,699,241.

The division was able to collect
GH¢480,259,241.64 for the year ending December
2015. Its target for the year was
GH¢472,560,000.

The last time the division met its target was in
2008 and since then, it has consistently fallen
short of its target until 2015.




Commitment

An Assistant Commissioner of the GRA in charge of
the KIA Customs Division, Mr Isaac Desmond Abbey,
expressed the belief that the achievements was as
a result of the dedication, support and commitment
of the officers and men, coupled with
well-thought-out policies being implemented by the
GRA.

“All these catapulted us into this realm of
achievements,” he said, adding that in 2014, the
authority introduced compliance measures where
everything was done electronically to monitor the
performance of staff and put them on track if they
were lagging behind.

That, he said, helped the staff to work hard, and
to remain focused and it was not surprising that
the division was able to exceed its target for the
first time in seven years.

He said the division had “a very strong”
management team and staff who were committed to
executing the job and commended them for their
overwhelming desire to collect revenue for
national development.

Mr Abbey gave an assurance that they would work
harder to sustain the momentum and even exceed
their current performance.

Act 791

Mr Abbey said the division was not only being
guided by its internal mechanisms, but by the
rules and regulations of the Customs Act 2015, Act
791.

In addition, he said the GRA had also motivated
the officers to put in their best in the
collection exercise, adding that the officers were
made to see the concerns of their clients as
utmost.

Mr Abbey said the payment of revenue should be
seen by everybody as a civic responsibility and
the understanding of that helped in the success
story being told.

For 2016

He said even though the target for 2016 was not
out yet, “We promise, with the help of God, not
to rest on our oars but to work even harder.”

“We have been gingered and poised to work not
only to sustain the momentum, but to keep on
improving on what we have achieved.

“For our customers, we are assuring them of
better and much more improved services this year.
We have an information desk and we will encourage
them to channel any grievances through it. But we
assure them of quality service this year,” he
assured clients of the division.

Mr Abbey said the doors of the division were open
for discussions, especially for those who did not
understand its operations, “because we believe
in dialogue”.

Challenges

He identified inadequate staffing as a major
challenge facing the division and said when more
officers were put out there, more revenue would be
mobilised.

Mr Abbey also said officers at some strategic
places needed more logistics, which he described
as critical, citing the need for modern scanners
because the current ones were not “user
friendly”.

Source - Daily Graphic

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