About 21 members of staff of the GRA were interdicted in January 2017 for allegedly aiding some private companies to evade duties and taxes.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dQfDFewdWJyi7td755IaO5R6UCqjzyoV”]Those interdicted were mostly from the customs division of the Authority.

Speaking over the weekend at a retreat in Kumasi, the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Emmanuel Kofi Nti said some of the affected personnel had been reposted.

He, however, said the disciplinary process by the management was on-going.

“The interdiction of some customs officers has been lifted. Officers have been recalled and posted while the internal disciplinary process initiated by management will continue till the cases are disposed of,” Mr. Nti said.

In July 2016, at least a hundred staff of the Customs Division of the GRA at the Tema Port were also interdicted for their alleged involvement in revenue losses.

The development, which spanned the period between May and July 18, 2017, reportedly led to delays at the ports which importers had contended may result in huge losses on their operations if unchecked.

A Technical committee member of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, Johnny Mantey in that regard, called on authorities to ensure a thorough investigation into the scandal.

GH¢17m lost

The Daily Guide Newspaper had earlier reported that an act of one of the interdicted officers allegedly caused GRA to incur a total liability of over GHc17 million.

The newspaper also reported that the affected workers were asked to hand over all GRA properties in their possession and also stay away from GRA until the investigations are over.

According to the newspaper, whereas some of them received two-thirds of their monthly salaries during the period of the investigations, others did not receive any salary until investigations ended.

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By:Marian Ansah &  Zoe Abu Baidoo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The officials were asked to step aside after it was discovered that some files at some offices under investigation in the school, had gone missing.

Interdiction was unfair

[contextly_sidebar id=”Nx9Qwyti2GaURZ2hythVNV9rVEuF8InB”]Speaking on Eyewitness News however, Secretary of the local chapter of UTAG at UEW, Dr. Ahmed Jinapor said the interdiction was “unfair ”, since the High Court of Winneba had placed an injunction on the Vice Chancellor to stay away from work  since July 14.

He also indicated that, the interdiction was flawed, given that Mr. Jinapor was not given a fair hearing.

“The Vice Chancellor has been asked to step aside by a competent court of jurisdiction over this whole issue. The issue of financial malfeasance, misappropriation of funds is before a competent court of jurisdiction and the High Court based on its hearings from both sides of the pendulum has come to the conclusion that we are going to give a verdict on the 28^th of November, so why come out with this letter telling him to step aside again on an allegation that he has not even been questioned.  He was never given an opportunity to defend himself,” argued Mr. Jinapor.

Mr. Jinapor believes the UEW Council could have resorted to a more suitable approach if it was indeed established that the officials had a hand in the development.

“Since July 14, the Vice Chancellor was asked to step aside and he never went to the office and if he never went to the office how could he have pulled files from the office? And if he did that, will amount to contempt of court? The best way to go about this is to fight him for contempt. Our fear and our hope and our prayer is that, this decision does not lead the Winneba  High Court in its decision. If it is anything of that sort, I can tell you for a fact that UTAG is going to resist it. If it means going to court to challenge it, why not?” he said.

“We are very unhappy about this, and we think that Counsel should as a matter of urgency, revisit the decision that has been taken, and they should more or less see their stance in terms of the impasse that is going on in the University. The Council should be the body that anybody can fall on if anyone is being maltreated,” Mr. Jinapor added.

Background

A Winneba High Court in July ordered the Vice Chancellor of UEW, Professor Mawutor Avokeh, to step aside until a case brought against him and the University’s Governing Council is determined.

The order also affected the institution’s Finance Officer.

The order was made in a case brought before the court by Supi Kofi Kwayera who insisted that the Vice Chancellor and the Finance Officer were operating under the institution’s defunct governing council.

The plaintiff held that the University’s Council’s mandate had expired in November 2013, but the Education Ministry failed to constitute a new Governing Council for the university, and rather allowed and permitted the defunct Governing Council which had no mandate whatsoever to continue the functions of a properly constituted Governing Council as if same had been properly constituted.

This, Mr. Kwayera insisted was unlawful, and hence his legal action against the University of Education, Winneba.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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In the last couple of days, Atsu has been reported to be close to joining Everton on loan following the Toffees’ capture of striker Romelu Lukaku in a permanent £28 million move on Wednesday.

The 22-year old was a big hit at the World Cup despite his nation crashing out at the group stage, and following an impressive season on loan at Vitesse looks ready to make a step up into the Premier League.

That will not be at Chelsea, naturally, because even Romelu Lukaku can’t even force his way into their squad, so Sunderland may just be the ones to benefit instead.

Atsu could be “swayed by better chance of first team football at Sunderland”, who have been given permission to speak with him. (Source)

— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) July 30, 2014

The left-footed Atsu would certainly add plenty of pace and energy to the Sunderland flanks, which had been a serious deficiency that Sporting Director Lee Congerton identified last season which was in urgent need of addressing.

If all goes well, Atsu will join another speedster, Patrick van Aanholt, who also made the switch from Stamford Bridge to Sunderland via Vitesse.

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has said he wants – almost demanded in fact – four new additions in the next week, so it appears that things are just starting to really hot up.

Hard choice

The most important thing is that he gets to play in the EPL. Atsu is, with all respect to a decent league, too good for the Eredivisie.

That said, it will be easier for Atsu to get in the team at Sunderland but the challenge at Everton would help him improve as a player.

While Poyet can also develop him well in his style of play, Everton will greatly improve him as a player because of Martinez’s track record.

Public reaction

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By: Gary Al-Smith/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @garyalsmith

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