By Haddy Touray
Mr. Yankuba Darboe, Commissioner General Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) has stated that ‘’business will not be as usual in 2024.’’
Mr. Darboe made the remarks while addressing GRA staff at the regional level during the board treks joint meeting and the top management recently.
According to CG Darboe henceforth GRA will take a new paradigm shift in the discharge of its mandate in revenue collection. Mr. Yankuba Darboe decided to show no sign of compromise in the payment of taxes in 2024.
According to him “Business will not be as usual” considering the magnitude of the amount assigned to GRA by the government to collect within 12 months is not child play.
He cited that not everyone is willing to pay its tax obligation voluntarily, some GRA have to go after them, of which GRA have a limited staff to go everywhere in this country.
He further stated that despite the fact that the level of tax compliance from the business company GSM in particular have drastically improved, GRA still faces enormous challenges in revenue mobilization in the formal sector and rental income.
However, GRA will take a new paradigm shift to ensure that taxes due to the government are paid. CG Darboe stated.
According to him “2024 will be a very tough year” in the sense that GRA will do everything humanly possible to collect what is assigned to them and make sure that whoever is engaging into productive business should endeavor to come forward and settle it dues to the state.
Mr. Darboe challenged his staff to act with professionalism and adopt the culture of non-compromise in the payment of taxes, knowing the fact that there are daunting challenges ahead in 2024. He asserted that collecting 19 Billion is not really a joke, it needs serious minded people.
He told the provincial GRA staff that the more the government increased its annual revenue target, the more GRA would also increase its annual assignment.
CG Darboe promised that GRA would do everything humanly possible to ensure that the target given to them is achieved. He added that in 2023 GRA was tasked to collect D15.2 Billion and in 2024 Government increased the annual revenue target to 19Billion.
Therefore, ‘’business will not be as usual, all hands will be on deck to collect what is assigned to GRA within 12 months.’’
He further stated that to collect this magnitude on yearly basis is not child play, and GRA staff needs to redouble efforts and show more commitment towards attaining the assignment. He cited that GRA would not relent its efforts in raising the bar high through digitalization in revenue generation.
Mr. Darboe also assured the GRA staff that the Board and the Management would do everything humanly possible to address their key priority challenges to effectively and efficiently deliver up to expectation.
He said this was why GRA Board and top management embarked on upcountry treks to meet their staff at the regional offices, discuss with them and get firsthand information about their concerns, challenges and see how best to immediately address them.
Also, he was quick to speak extensively about the complementary efforts with their sister security personnel. He said GRA alone cannot do it without the other sister forces, therefore, Mr. Darboe said he was very impressed with the level of cooperation among the sister security forces on the ground.
According to CG Darboe there cannot be revenue collection in the absence of peace and stability in a country.
Going forward CG Darboe expressed profound gratitude to the service chiefs, for working with GRA to enable us to collect revenue for national development.
Mr. Darboe also stated that the revenues collected by GRA are used for many purposes; key among them is the construction of road projects, salaries, building hospitals, just to name a few.
He said therefore payment of taxes should be everybody’s concern. He further cited that 2024 GRA would be very tough in their operation to ensure that the revenue assigned to them was realized at the stipulated period.
For her part, the GRA board chairperson stressed on the need for GRA staff to demonstrate professionalism during the course of discharging their mandate of collecting revenue.
She cited that GRA was a highly respected institution and has been commended for being the leading revenue collector in West Africa. She called on GRA staff to maintain its positive track record and protect the image of the GRA. She commended the Staff for their firm commitment, dedication and loyalty to the institution in ensuring that GRA performed relatively well on a yearly basis. She also commended the leadership of GRA who have been very much concerned about the welfare of GRA staff.
Other speakers included Mr. Essa Jallow, deputy commissioner general and head of domestic taxes who hailed the GRA staff for the warm welcome accorded to the Board and the top management.
