COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE OPERATIONAL IRREGULARITIES AT CEPS INAUGURATED

Nana Juaben-Boaten Siriboe, Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has inaugurated a four-member committee to investigate reported cases of extortion of money and other operational irregularities at the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).

The Committee, under the chairmanship of His Lordship Mr. Samuel Glenn Baddoo, Retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana and Chairman of the Ghana Police Service Council.

Whiles inaugurating them, Nana Siriboe reiterated their terms of reference and appealed to the public to assist the committee by making submissions in writing to them.

Justice Baddoo noted that the Committee has not been set up for vendetta purposes and implored the public come out and help the committee to succeed in this huge task.

He said it was a fact finding committee which is only to investigate and not to pronounce guilt on anybody. Normal court procedure would be adopted and would ensure that people who appear before it would be protected.

The Committee which has a month to present its reports sits in the Revenue Agencies Governing Board offices on the Sixth Floor of Heritage Towers

The Committee has the following terms of reference:

i. To investigate the allegations with a view to establishing administrative actions against the affected staff.

ii. To identify Management weaknesses in dealing expeditiously with disciplinary matters.

iii. To review the systems, procedures, processes and rules and regulations of CEPS.

iv. To examine the auction procedures with a view to recommending specific actions regarding alternatives of disposing of auction goods other than through CEPS establishment and the role of clearing agents, auctioneers, etc. and

v. To look into any other matters that are incidental to the work of the Committee’s mandate.

Other members of the Committee are Mr. E. M. Owusu-Ansah, a Chartered Accountant who is representing the private sector, Ms Dorothy Afriyie-Ansah, Senior State Attorney representing the Attorney General’s Department and Mr. Michael Ayesu, a Principal Economic Officer representing the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.