CEPS Academy Targets West Africa

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Academy and Training School at Kpetoe in the Volta Region hopes to become a center of excellence in training customs officers and other revenue mobilization personnel within the West African sub-region in the very near future.

To this end, the GRA has started upgrading the facilities and reviewing the training programs at the academy in order to attract students from other African countries. The capacity of instructors is also not left out.

This was disclosed by George Vincent Blankson, Commissioner General of the GRA during the graduation parade for senior officers in basic customs and paramilitary training at the Academy recently.

According to Mr. Blankson, training is critical in developing a world class institution, hence the desire of GRA to make training its cornerstone no matter the cost.

He explained that 'training makes the difference and we are happy to be transforming raw materials into officers here.'

As part of the upgrading of the academy; a sod was cut in January for a multipurpose hostel facility at the cost of GH¢10,000 million. The facility which is being constructed by Maripoma Enterprise Limited is expected to be completed in 15 months. It will have study rooms, laundries and kitchens and also accommodate 82 males and 102 females.

The Commissioner General noted that despite the successes chalked by the authority, the graduates and all personnel; particularly the young ones should be professional and ethical in their duties. This, he said, will make them prepared to take up the future of revenue mobilization in the country since most of the senior officers will be due for retirement in the very near future.

Mr. Blankson added that they should not be complacent, but always update themselves with new knowledge and skills in order to be current and maximize revenue mobilization, which is critical in transforming Ghana.

In all, a total of 52 senior cadets graduated from the academy. They comprised 11 females and 40 males. Seven out of the lot received awards for distinguishing themselves, with the all-round best trainee going to Senior Cadet David Mensah.

The occasion was also used to unveil the anti-smuggling unit of the Customs Division of GRA.

In attendance were the Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Francis Ganyaglo, the DCE for Agotime Ziope, Michael Kobla Adjho, the Konor of Agotime, Nene Nuer Keteku, heads of sister security agencies in the region among others.

From Fred Duodu, Kpetoe ([email protected])