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The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has distanced itself from recent comments made by the Commissioner of Customs over a report carried out by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The Commissioner of Customs, Col. Kwadwo Damoah (rtd), described the Special Prosecutor as “a small boy.”
His comment was made last week at a staff retreat in Kumasi where he challenged the report by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, which stated that a member of the Council of State had used her position to get a favourable decision from the Customs Division of GRA, which led to a reduction in the tax liabilities of Labianca Limited.
“Anybody who has read that report very well would know the basis of that and luckily for me, God is always on my side. Before that report came, that person had made a statement to some people who had come (to tell me that), he was going to publish something that will discredit me and he will do that and I even sent people to go and tell him that he’s a small boy and I am older than him. I have lived a meaningful life and if he attempts to destroy me, it won’t be easy for him.
“People have tried it, I have survived and this one too I will survive,” Colonel Damoah reacted.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday, August 14, 2022, by Rev Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, Commissioner General of the GRA, the board of the authority said it “would like to state for the record that it accords the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) the respect and the dignity that the OSP carries.”
“In this regard, the Authority wishes to state that the comments made by the Commissioner of the Customs Division, Col Kwadwo Damoah Rtd at the Customs Management Retreat on Wednesday 10 August 2022 on the outcomes of the investigation were made in his personal capacity and do not convey the opinion of the Board and Management of GRA,” the statement added.
It added that GRA is ensuring that all unreasonable exercise of discretionary power that will result in revenue loss will be prevented.
GRA uses this opportunity to assure all its stakeholders and the general public that GRA has taken steps to ensure that all allegations of impropriety on the part of any of its staff are promptly and decisively investigated and that all cases of tax evasion or other acts that are contrary to the Laws governing the Authority will be dealt with.
