Is Customs a necessary evil?

 

By John Bediako

The interdiction of 229 personnel of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Service (GRA) at the Tema Harbour has put pressure, not only on the skeletal staff left behind, but also importers, who are indirectly bearing the brunt of that decision.

The activity of Customs, Tema Collection Point, rakes in annually about 70% of the total revenue collected countrywide by the tax collecting institution, while, generally, 60% to 70% of the nation’s revenue comes from them.

The interdiction, which has been necessitated by recent investigations embarked upon by this regime, has seen personnel occupying sensitive positions at the collection point sent home while those remaining and fresh hands brought in as stop gap measure have not been informed of the reasons for the interdictions.

My own investigations into the wholesale action, however, suggested that action on the decision taken should have begun with a gradual approach, so as not to inconvenience the system, since the incidents under investigations were a result of system and systemic failures.

Already, the state is battling with revenue collection, as evidenced by reports that the state revenue agency fell short of its set target by 0.45% for the first half of the year 2017.

Customs is, no doubt, the most talked about state agency in recent times, having its image battered as never witnessed in its 178 years of existence. But does that mean we must throw away the baby with the bath water? The answer is a deafening BIG NO, since we, as a people, have contributed immensely to the state in which the revenue collecting body finds itself today

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The Customs and Excise was established in 1839 headquartered in James Town, Accra, as a semi-autonomous body for a century and over. In 1985, the Border Guards Unit of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) was abolished, and the section converted to be the Preventive Unit of the revenue agency, which came to be known as the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).

As a frontline institution of the country’s borders, Customs, being part of the security network of the nation, by its geographical placing, is entrusted to surmount any external aggression and maintain the territorial integrity of Ghana.

Customs also ensures that the revenue of the state is protected, and this can only be realised by preventing smuggling along the country’s borders.

This is done, not only by patrols of the frontiers, but also other strategic points, such as road barriers, and examination of goods among others.

Customs also performs agencies duties on the behalf of other government organisations and ministries by seeing to the enforcement of laws on import and export restrictions and prohibitions.

A sensitive aspect to be looked at critically to help he Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is improved conditions of service, so as not to set temptations for the personnel, since they are humans and not angels.

Sadly enough, that is not the case, and the personnel have been left to determine their individual “conditions of service” on the job.

Working under varied conditions in the very remote border areas cannot be compared with places like the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and Tema Port, as the latter is used by the public to judge the living status of the officers – very unfortunate indeed!

The service, which was unionised from 2009, was infused into the fold of the GRA, sparking a lot of controversy, which, till date, is not well spelt out.

Customs insisted on remaining a unionised group to enable it to maintain a bargaining agreement, but that ended in the nation’s apex court, as, on two occasions, the Supreme Court ruled that being an armed body, it should not be allowed to be unionised.

The reason being, as a union, it has the right to embark on strike actions to address issues, but that legitimate right cannot be taken by armed group.

Customs, even though is rated a part of the nation’s security network and performs all related duties, the conditions of service in the revenue collection body is an apology, comparing it to sister security setups.

For example, a Customs officer retires on the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) pension, as against their counterparts who go home on CAP 30 (Chapter 30 of the 1950 British Colonial Ordinances, – Pension Ordinance No. 42).

No wonder life becomes very unbearable for even retired senior Customs Officers going by the adage, ‘the memory of the dead is a warning to the living.”

  By John Bediako The interdiction of 229 personnel of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Service (GRA) at the Tema Harbour has put pressure, not only on the skeletal staff left behind, but also importers, who are indirectly bearing the brunt of that decision. The activity of Customs, Tema Collection Point, rakes in […] Read Full Story