The governing board of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been reconstituted with a task for the board to work closely with relevant institutions to block revenue leakages.
The Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam who inaugurated the new board chaired by Joe Ghartey, the Member of Parliament for Essikado Ketan in the Western Region said working closely with relevant institutions and stakeholders will help to reduce tax non-compliance and block revenue leakages.
According to the Minister, the revenue-generating institution needed to achieve its medium-term revenue targets of an 18% to 20% tax/GDP ratio as well as meet all indicative targets and structural benchmarks related to revenue under the IMF programme.
“Over the next few days I will be holding stakeholder meetings with institutions involved with GRA to address issues of alleged harassment of businesses and discuss how we can work to improve the business climate for investors to feel confident about investing and doing business in Ghana” he disclosed.
The Chairperson of the Board, Hon. Joe Ghartey, stated on behalf of the Board that, it was a unique opportunity to serve the nation and that the performance of the Ghana Revenue Authority was crucial, particularly at this point in the country’s history.
“The balance is to increase the revenue and at the same time remain business-friendly and improve the ease of doing business in Ghana, so we thank the President for his confidence in us and assure him of our commitment to bring the needed positive changes at GRA” he stated.
Aside from Joe Ghartey, a former Minister of Railway Development, the board includes several notable members:
- Dr. Alex Ampaabeng, Deputy Minister of Finance
- Ms. Julie Essiam, Commissioner-General for the GRA
- Michael Okyere Baafi, Deputy Minister of Trade.
- Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi, Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana.
Other members are:
- Susan Akomea, Immediate Past Municipal Chief Executive of Asante Akyim Central and Co-founding member of CENAB UK.
- Mrs. Araba Bosomtwe, a Master of Public Administration (MPA) holder with international experience in high-level administrative duties.
- Mr. Kwabena Abankwah Yeboah is a fellow of the Ghana College of Pharmacists and a board member of ADB Bank.