Mr. Emmanuel N. Doku, Commissioner of Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), on Friday called on the senior personnel of CEPS to muster courage and bring about progressive changes to the service and not just manage the status quo.

"We should strive, as senior officers, to be up to the task by doing the right things, the ability to execute, decide, follow- through and deliver on commitment.

You need to develop the right attitude which should include the tendency to foster trust, share information and listen effectively", he said.

Mr. Doku said this in a speech read on his behalf during the 17th Senior Staff Association of CEPS (SSACEPS) Annual Delegates Conference in Bolgatanga.

He appealed to senior officers to be flexible and provide opportunities for their subordinates to learn and provide quality work.

"We must all strive to work together to meet the emerging challenges such as the deployment of ICT in the service. We owe it a duty to deliver fair, honest and transparent service to our clients. I therefore urge you to develop and nurture an insatiable appetite for accomplishment and results.

Mr. Alhassan Samari, Upper East Regional Minister, said CEPS was contributing more than 50 per cent of national total revenue and called on government to support it with logistics, technical and human resources so as to exploit its full potential for the benefit of the country.

"From a figure of just over 2.4 trillion cedis collected in 2000, CEPS has over the past seven years increased its collection to over 12.8 trillion cedis as at the end of 2006", he said.

He said since Ghana could not develop only on donor support, it would have to exploit internally generated funds which had no strings attached.

"This is where your role as senior officers of this very important institution is most topical and worth deliberating".

He advised the officers to eschew all negative practices that would compromise revenue collection and rather show commitment and professionalism by ensuring that all revenue due to the state was put in state coffers.

"You must live above reproach and demonstrate to your management that you are capable of carrying through their policies in order to achieve set targets and objectives", he said.

Mr. Mahami Salifu, Member of the Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB), commended CEPS for its role in revenue collection, saying "Your resilience coupled with good management and operational practices have enabled you to maintain your leading role in revenue collection in the country."

He appealed to the senior officers to improve their managerial and supervisory skills and that there was no room for complacency or mediocrity.

He urged them to step up tax education to inform and enlighten the public and work towards a culture of voluntary compliance.


Source: GNA