The Government says it has taken steps to retrieve huge sums of monies lost to bribery and corruption at the Tema Harbour.
Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in an interview with Joy News said the government has contacted companies deemed to have been under-taxed by CEPS officials for them to pay the difference.
The defaulting companies per an investigation conducted by ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas did not pay the right taxes at the ports before clearing their goods.
The said companies in collusion with some suspected corrupt CEPS officials under-declared their goods and paid lower taxes than they ought to have paid.
The revelation has generated a huge public uproar with opposition voices calling on the government to take action on the matter than merely talking about it. Okudzeto Ablakwa said the government was looking at the new evidence at the Tema Harbour within a larger context of fighting corruption.
According to him the governments was looking to prosecute corrupt officials found culpable of collecting bribes and also retrieve monies from companies which evaded or paid lower taxes than expected.
“We are making sure there are strict punishments for people who are found culpable and also making sure revenue wastage is checked and at the end of the day strengthening our institution,” he said.
“…As we speak several companies have been written to; demand notices have been sent them by the Ghana Revenue Authority. They have been cooperating and thousands and millions of Ghana cedis are being retrieved,” he assured, adding that at the appropriate time figures will be made known to the public.
He noted that 11 officials have so far been interdicted by the Ghana Revenue Authority and with a committee of enquiry set up to investigate the allegations.
He said recommendations by the committee will then be sent to the Attorney General’s office and if there is a prima facie case for prosecution the AG will advise accordingly.