Don’t back down on paperless agenda – GRA boss to gov’t

The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Emmanuel Kofi Nti, has appealed to the government to ensure that its agenda to create a paperless transaction system at the country’s ports is fully implemented.

He has also called on all stakeholders and citizens to ensure that the migration to a paperless transaction system at the ports become reality.

According to him, a paperless clearing of goods and processing of documents at the Sekondi-Takoradi ports will help eliminate bureaucracy and fraud.

He said a paperless system will also reduce the incident of time wasting during clearance of goods from the country’s ports.

He made the comments on Monday during a media interaction aimed at informing journalists about the intended paperless migration program on September 1.

Emmanuel Kofi Nti said Ghana will enhance its image in the sight of the global community if it successfully introduces the paperless system.

Once it kicks off, the various trade facilitation institutions at the ports will be expected to operate from one unit while documents pertaining to the clearance of goods or exports at the Tema and Takoradi ports will no longer be done through paper.

Although a World Trade Organisation (WTO) requirement, Ghana has lagged behind in ensuring that electronic platforms replace paper at the ports.

In 2012, an attempt to go paperless was stalled as some of the stakeholders in the value chain were found to be unprepared.

He commended the Ghana Community Network Services (GCNet) and West Blue “for working tirelessly” to ensure that the country was now in a position to roll out the project.

He said the authority and its stakeholders also had the necessary political will as the government was solidly behind them.

“We in Ghana have had attitudes,” he said, referring to the resistance that normally greets change.

Although most people hardly initiate change, he said they are always quick “to pull things down” when they start and thus called for such habits to be stopped.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
with additional resources from Graphic Online.