By Amoako Kwame
Goosie Tanoh, Presidential Adviser on the 24-Hour Economy, has cautioned individuals and groups who abuse Ghana’s customs transit, bonded warehouse and auction regimes for personal gain.
Speaking at the 5th Annual General Meeting of Customs House Agents Ghana in Akosombo over the weekend, he said the persistent undervaluation and misclassification of goods at the ports are undermining the government’s efforts to mobilise revenue and threatening the country’s economic transformation agenda.
“It is my fervent hope that the malfeasance and outright economic sabotage of those who abuse the customs transit regime and bonded warehouse system will be a thing of the past,” he said.
He urged the leadership of Customs House Agents Ghana to demonstrate courage and professional discipline by sanctioning or expelling persons found culpable of engaging in fraudulent activities.
“An association like yours must have the courage to punish those who seek to destroy the Ghanaian economy in satisfaction of their greed and insatiable appetite for illicit gains,” he added.
His remarks follow an order by Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson directing an investigation into a tax evasion scheme involving more than GH¢82 million linked to transit goods bound for Niger.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has appointed Aaron Kanor as Acting Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
The Customs Division remains a critical pillar of Ghana’s economy, from the nation’s busy ports to its remote border posts, where discipline, vigilance and integrity shape how effectively the country trades, grows and finances its future.
