Customs sets up committee to study corruption

The Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) has set up a committee to study the problem of corruption in the service with the view to curbing the canker.

Mr Sampson Hammond, Acting Commissioner, said on Monday that the initiative is in reaction to the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) report, which puts the Service at the top of corrupt organisations in bribery.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, Mr Hammond said the committee is to collate ideas from within and outside the service on the basis of the assertion, look into reasons for corruption, areas of corruption and how it is perpetuated.

It is also to come out with possible ways of averting corruption and launch educational programmes to sensitise officers on the code of conduct for CEPS.

\"Management is convinced that the resultant policies to be put in place will go a long way to stem the tide of officers behaving unprofessionally,\" Mr Hammond said.

\"We are about to put in place a code of conduct and work ethics for the guidance of officers.\"

The Acting Commissioner said the management is fully aware that the service, by its onerous role of collecting, accounting and protecting national revenue, gets into contact with large sections of the society. CEPS collects more than 50 per cent of Ghana\'s total revenue.

\"With this high profile and visible role, it is obvious that the incidence of bribery and other fraudulent practices become prevalent,\" Mr Hammond said.

He said the management has studied the report and come to grips with the extent of the problem and noted that studies by consultants have pointed out that serious deficiencies in the operational systems and procedures work to the detriment of revenue and trade facilitation.

Some of the observations state that the current human resource base is not adequately equipped, educated or trained to meet the needs of modern customs organisation.

The service lacks adequate facilities, equipment, vehicles and other resources to meet its commitment effectively.

Mr Hammond said based on these, effective measures such as the introduction of automation, the World Trade organisation Valuation System and the scanning facility at major ports have also been initiated to ensure that the incidence of contacts between staff and importers is minimised.

\"Meanwhile, we implore the general public to desist from tempting CEPS staff with indecent offers and must promptly report all officers who abuse their office and demand illegal fees from them,\" he added.

Mr Hammond said the alleged 5.2 billion-cedi fraud involving Taj Investment Limited is under investigation and under no circumstance has any member of top management obstructed investigations so far.

Taj, a meat importing company, is being investigated for under-valuing poultry products it imported. This followed protest lodged to a Deputy Commissioner of CEPS by members of the association of meat importers.

The investigation is with special reference to values submitted to the Gateway Services Limited for poultry products.

Mr Hammond said the suspension of transfer of a senior CEPS official, Mr Boye Quaye is not an attempt to cover-up fraudulent acts but to assist with the investigation.

He explained that recent transfers of senior staff form part of efforts to revamp certain schedules saying, \"management will not want to use transfers as punishment or to inconvenience officers.\"

Mr Hammond said recent media publications on the alleged fraud and transfers are giving a negative image of the service and asked journalists to crosscheck facts before publishing.