The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) will absorb some of its Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) personnel into permanent employment through a conscious programme at the end of the year.
The Commissioner of Customs, Col Kwadwo Damoah (retd), said those selected would undergo training at the Customs Academy after which they would be engaged as full-time officers.
He said the GRA Board had given consent for the Customs Division to recruit some staff in view of the high number of officers who had retired in recent years.
Addressing officers in the Oti Region last Friday as part of a tour of the region, Col Damoah said the issue of staffing was a major challenge for the Customs Division nationwide.
The commissioner’s visit to the Oti Region was to find ways to develop the Oti Collection of the Customs Division and to also seek first-hand information on how to improve the working conditions of personnel in the area.
Col Damoah toured Tijase, Menuso, Ahamasu, among other border towns, and after engaging security heads and the Oti Regional Minister, Mr. Kwasi Owusu Yeboah, and his deputy, Mr. Maxwell Blagodzi, on how to assist the Customs Division to get a befitting office at the regional capital, Dambai.
Staff of the Customs Division in the region had complained about the lack of offices, office equipment, residential accommodation, vehicles, among others, during a meeting with Col Damoah.
It emerged at the meeting that the Customs Division in the area was also handicapped in effectively checking the many unapproved routes along the border communities because of inadequate personnel.
He said management of the Customs Division would do its best to address their challenges for the smooth running of activities in the collection and the region.
He stressed, however, that some of the issues needed immediate attention, and promised to address them before the end of the year.
The commissioner said the Customs Division was well behind the GH¢13 billion target set for the current year.
As of September 2020, he said, that arm of the GRA had collected less than GH¢9 billion, with a difference of about nearly GH¢4 billion still outstanding.
He, however, expressed the hope that with the measures put in place, the Customs Division would be able to achieve the target in spite of the effect of COVID-19 on its activities.
Col Damoah disclosed that the Customs Division would deploy 500 of its men to beef up security for the upcoming general election in December, and urged the officers to be professional in their work and collaborate with other security agencies during the exercise.
Earlier, the commissioner inaugurated a gym for the Aflao Collection after a staff durbar. He commended the Aflao Collection for being the first to put up a gym for the physical fitness of personnel under the collection.
Source:Fiilafmonline/Graphic
