BY: Bakary Ceesay
Mr. Yankuba Darboe, Commissioner General Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) has stressed that they would not compromise non-tax compliance to anyone.
He challenged his staff to enforce the Tax laws that are mandated to them in the collection of tax for national development.
Darboe was speaking during the official opening of a five days seminar for GRA top management on Risk Management Strategy /Framework, held at Senegambia Beach hotel on Monday 17th to 21st of June, 2019.
The seminar is funded by (GIZ) In German Means; Society for International Cooperation and supported by the World customs organization capacity building program.
The workshop will develop customs risk management strategy which will provide guidance as to what actions the Authority can take in the application of Intelligence-Based Risk Management principle in order to achieve its strategic objectives.
He urged his staff not to leave any stone un-turn in the execution of their duties regarding tax collection in a fair and transparent manner.
Darboe emphasised that Gambia is a tax based economy and government relied heavily on GRA tax collection for National development.
He also advise GRA staff to collect the necessary tax legally, already the GRA act has empowered you to collect all the taxes that are due for government in a fair and transparent manner.
“Therefore , I challenged all GRA staff not to leave any stone un-turn to make sure that they lived up to expectation and make sure that anybody who owes tax should pay it without delay and on time,” he stated.
Darboe explained that the five -days Customs Risk Management and Intelligence workshop, a component of the WCO-GIZ project which is being implemented as part of GRA’s overall reforms and modernization efforts.
He said that the forum aimed to develop Customs Risk Management Strategy and Register. In addition to that, he further described it as another milestone in GRA’s determination to apply modern Intelligence-Based Risk Management principles in all its operations.
The introduction of Intelligence- Based Risk Management techniques in customs operation is in fact an acknowledgement of these dynamics in international trade environment. Thus, developing Customs Risk Management Strategy will undoubtedly make it easier for the Authority to take appropriate actions to allocate its limited resources more effectively and efficiently by balancing its intervention and facilitation of trade as prescribed in World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA).
For his part as the Project Manager and Director of Risk Enterprise Management and IT at GRAS, Mr. Alieu Bittaye, said the project is funded by the GIZ and coordinated by World Customs Organization to be implemented by GRA. The project is focusing on two areas, which is time release, studying and waste management with some intelligence.
He advises that the participants should be able to concentrate on the lectures that would be deliberated during these five days.
“Learn as more as you could and most importantly you should share what you have learned with others. He also advised that the materials that would be shared in this forum should not be put into dustbin. Whatever materials you may be gathered, you should try to make sure that you keep it alive and make sure that you share those materials with others at the end of the program.”
Also speaking as the World Customs Risk Management Expert Compliance and Facilitation Director, Doorgaprasad Rajcoomar, described the forum as high level commitment where top management of GRA would be engaged in such forum.
He thanked GRA management for their hospitalities extended to them (WCO). This five days forum he said is a follow up of the first mission they have done with GRA in January; in term of diagnose that they did together in gathering information to make a report on the situation and where GRA was going into some reforms that they agreed on, in term of customs risk management strategy.