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Workers of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have registered their displeasure at what they term as political interference in the work of the Authority.
According to the staff of the GRA, the interference from government is affecting the morale of staff of the revenue generating authority to give off their best.
The aggrieved workers at a durbar in Accra accused their management and some politicians of interfering in their work which they lamented is hampering the operations of the GRA.
Although they fell short of mentioning names, they said the extent of interference is such that it will make it difficult for the tax collection body to meet its revenue target for this year.
They cite, for instance, the irregular recruitment of personnel into the service whose competence usually is in doubt due to their poor performance.
“The same people who came in through political appointments, have their children working as clearing agents who are using exemptions to clear goods. Is that not conflict of interest?”, a staff exclaimed.
Secretary of the National Union of GRA Workers, Ken Tweneboakodua said those interfering in their work should put a stop to the practice of ordering custom officers and GRA staff to discharge and release impounded contraband goods.
“When you are not lucky and you want to act like a proper customs man, an importer from the port would want to exhibit his power over you and threaten to take your job,” he said.
Government as part of the ECOWAS protocol removed a number of Customs officers from the vantage points to allow unhindered movement of vehicles.
The Union is, however, calling on government to bring the men back because their absence is impacting negatively on revenue generation.
