GRA Boss Under Fire Over Age Question, Wrestles With Parliament Committee In Attempt To Hide Age

GRA Boss Under Fire Over Age Question, Wrestles With Parliament Committee In Attempt To Hide Age

  • The Ghana Revenue Authority Commissioner-General, Rev Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, caused a stir after not answering a question about his age
  • Owusu-Amoah had appeared before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee when he faced the question
  • The question was posed by the Ningo-Prampram Member of Parliament, Sam Nartey George

The Ghana Revenue Authority's Commissioner-General, Rev Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, sparked controversy in Parliament after an extended attempt to swerve a question about his age.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee, Owusu-Amoah had been asked when he turned 60 by the Ningo-Prampram legislator, Sam George, but he tried to argue that it was a personal question.

GRA boss retirement age question
Ningo-Prampram MP Sam George (L) and GRA Boss Rev Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah. Source: Parliament of Ghana
Source: Facebook

George pursued that line of questioning for about 10 minutes with the premise that the government had declared that it would not extend the contracts of people above 60 years old.

Read also

Ghana Revenue Authority exceeds tax revenue targets for 2023, rakes in GH¢113.06 billion

The Deputy Finance Minister, Abena Osei-Asare, also argued that the official's age was a personal question.

The Committee Chairman, James Klutse Avedzi, however, noted that the GRA boss is a public official and could not hide such information.

The commissioner eventually admitted that he turned 62 in August 2023.

The tensive back and forth was captured in the video below:

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Owusu-Amoah appeared before the committee after the news that the authority had collected tax revenue of GH¢113.06 billion in the 2023 fiscal year.

The tax revenue generated was GH¢3.87 billion more than the Ghana Revenue Authority was tasked to collect.

The Commissioner-General of the authority, Owusu-Amoah, urged all eligible persons and businesses to pay their taxes earlier remarks.

Cheddar cited for tax evasion

YEN.com.gh reported that Nana Kwame Bediako, also known as Cheddar, was cited by the GRA for tax evasion.

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According to Ghanaian Times reports, Bediako reportedly owes over GH¢7 million in taxes for 2021 and 2022.

For 2021 and 2022, Bediako was reportedly supposed to pay GH¢2,088,228 and GH¢5,096,536 respectively.

Bediako is trying to shake up Ghanaian politics with his New Force Movement and denied the tax evasion claims.

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Source: YEN.com.gh

Authors:
Delali Adogla-Bessa avatar

Delali Adogla-Bessa (Current Affairs Editor) Delali Adogla-Bessa is a Current Affairs Editor with YEN.com.gh. Delali previously worked as a freelance journalist in Ghana and has over seven years of experience in media, primarily with Citi FM, Equal Times, Ubuntu Times. Delali also volunteers with the Ghana Institute of Language Literacy and Bible Translation, where he documents efforts to preserve local languages. He graduated from the University of Ghana in 2014 with a BA in Information Studies. Email: delali.adogla-bessa@yen.com.gh.