|
US builds capacity for CEPS
Accra, March 18, Ghanadot/GNA - The Customs, Excise and
Preventive Service (CEPS), with the assistance of the United
States Customs and Border Protection Agency (USCBP), has
established an Internal Affairs Unit to improve the
Service’s enforcement efforts.
The Unit will enhance CEPS stance to fight corruption,
maintain integrity, and minimise the risk of revenue
leakages and security breaches in the system.
It would also ensure that customs procedures for handling
goods at Ghana’s entry points are made transparent and
efficient.
About thirty persons have been recruited by the CEPS and
trained by the USCBP to oversee the affairs of the unit,
which is expected to be independent in nature. The unit has
Intelligence and Investigative components to ensure a strong
enforcement team.
To this end, the USCBP on Tuesday handed over four laptop
computers fitted with specialised software worth 50,000
dollars to build the capacity of the unit.
The USCBP in September last year trained 10 CEPS personnel
in computer software to support the new Unit. It had since
2003 been collaborating with the CEPS on a series of
training programmes focused primarily on areas like
integrity awareness, land, sea and air enforcement and
computer software use among other areas.
Mr. Michael Evans, Chief of the Consular Section of the US
Embassy in Accra, representing the Ambassador, said the
training given to the CEPS personnel by the USCBP was a
continuation of the “strong support provided by the Embassy
for the conception and establishment of this unit over the
last several years”.
“The creation and development of this Internal Affairs Unit
signals Ghana’s commitment to moving ahead and working
towards a future of growing prosperity for all of her
citizens”.
Mr Evans noted that CEPS’ role in protecting Ghana’s
security and economic prosperity was crucial, saying, “It is
impossible to overestimate the importance of transparent and
efficient handling of customs procedures for goods at
Ghana’s land borders, ports, and airports”.
“The entire trading sector depends on the integrity and
efficiency of CEPS. Trade is lifeblood of any country”, he
added.
Evans exhorted CEPS to remain vigilant against the violation
of Ghana’s borders by traffickers and smugglers, adding
that, their (smugglers and traffickers) agenda threatened
the economic security and peace of Ghana as well as the rest
of the world.
Mr Emmanuel Doku, CEPS Commissioner expressed appreciation
to the US Government for the donation and the continued
training support to CEPS by the USCBP to build the services
capacity in line with the World Customs Organization’s
Framework of Standards.
He acknowledged that the current threats to national
security globally required customs administrations to take
greater roles in enforcement, which thus called for an
appropriately equipped customs personnel to tackle the
proliferation of illegal arms and other dangerous goods into
the country.
Mr Doku commended the USCBP for the capacity building
initiatives to other customs administrations because the
concept of fortified borders was key to national security.
He stressed that the forum had offered CEPS the opportunity
to reaffirm its revenue administration reforms that were
geared towards enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in tax
the administration.
The Commissioner appealed to the US authorities to assist
the service to enhance its capacity in other areas by
training officers and through the donation of security
logistics.
GNA
|
