STATEMENT: GCNet Reponse To Anas’ Exposé

1. ANAS Exposé GCNet has learnt about the alleged malpractices that undermine revenue mobilization at the Tema Port by ace investigative journalist, Mr. Anas Aremeyaw Anas. While commending Anas on his efforts and courage in conducting his investigation, GCNet would like to highlight on some of the issues in order to set the records right. 2. WHO/WHEN GCNet STARTED GCNet wishes to state that it was mandated by the then NDC Government to introduce its system, within the framework of the Gateway Programme, in October 2000. After development, customization and testing to suite the operational requirements of Ghana, the system became operational in January 2003 under the then NPP Government. The system has thus been operational and used by both the NDC and NPP Government. It is also worthwhile to note that Government, through the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and other agencies own approximately thirty-five (35) percent of GCNet’s shareholding. 3. ANAS’ FINDINGS As regards, the findings that were made by Anas during his investigations, these are issues that had at various times been reported by GCNet to key stakeholders (e.g. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), National Security, etc.) over the years and has made suggestions as to how they could be addressed with the view to enhancing customs revenue mobilization through the ports. GCNet can provide evidence of several cases of the discrepancies identified which had been reported. Indeed in various comments made by Anas after the publication and screening of his findings, Anas, had among other things, been very complimentary of the “electronic system” (i.e. the GCNet system) deployed for GRA (Customs Division). He has noted, for instance, that the system is “the repository of all data on Customs clearances”. In the light of this it can be “scanned” to show all transactions that have been carried out for any revenue shortfalls to be identified and recovered. He also noted (e.g. on Radio Ghana’s “Behind the News” Programme of Friday, 4th February, 2011) that the electronic system is “amazing” and “fascinating”. In the wake of the exposé and public commentary on the findings, there has unfortunately been a serious misunderstanding of the GCNet in the clearance process (e.g. with statements such as “GCNet has failed to police the port” or “GCNet should supervise operations at Tema Port”). Others have averred that the system has loopholes and was deliberately designed as such to be “exploited by government”, especially after Anas’ claim that he has “six passwords” to the system. All these are very far from the truth. 4. GCNet’s ROLE IN THE CLEARANCE PROCESS It is to be noted in this regard that GCNet’s role in the clearance process is to deploy an electronic messaging platform that enables all stakeholders to transmit relevant data (e.g. Manifest, Declarations, Permits, etc) to GRA (Customs). There is also the Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS) that is used by Customs Officers to process declarations, within a close environment that cannot be accessed except within an authorized restricted environment such as GRA (Customs). No GCNet staff is involved other than providing and operating the required IT infrastructure for the use of these authorized agencies. Besides having Customs Systems Administrators, Manifest data in GCMS for instance, is reviewed and approved by Customs Manifest Officers. Other Customs Officers are also in charge of all the other customs operational functions such as Compliance, Examination, Warehousing, Transit, Free Zone, Post Event Monitoring, etc. It is the responsibility of all these Customs officers to ensure that the system is used effectively and all declarations conform to existing regulations. GCNet is also not responsible for the customs valuation of imported goods. This comes under the purview of five (5) Destination Inspection Companies (DICs), who proffer valuation opinion to Customs for acceptance or otherwise. 5. VALUATION ASSURANCE PROGRAMME However, in view of serious challenges that have been identified with the valuation of imports, the Government in June 2010 authorized GCNet to activate the GCMS Valuation Module under a Valuation Assurance Programme (VAP) that provides a second tier valuation assurance for GRA (Customs) to ensure that imported goods declared by importers or proffered by the DICs are in line with the reasonable expected transactional prices. As a result, the relatively low value of goods that were hitherto declared is being adjusted to reflect realistic market values in accordance with the WTO Valuation Agreement. In spite of its short period of deployment, the VAP has been acknowledged as a success and created a level playing field for importers who seek to declare true consignment values as against those who seek to under-value their consignments. 6. ELLIOT ANSAH SAGA Whilst commending the GCNet system for its versatility, and helping him to undertake his investigation, Anas’ “only beef” with GCNet was what he termed the “Elliot Ansah Saga”. Anas stated that GCNet failed to stop Elliot Ansah, an ex-employee of GCNet from fleeing to the United Kingdom when an attempted tampering of data in the system by the said Elliot Ansah was detected. On this particular issue, GCNet had responded to a questionnaire submitted to it by Anas. In its response to the questionnaire, GCNet had explained that Elliot Ansah submitted a notice of resignation to GCNet with effect from 7th September, 2010. However, Elliot Ansah fled the country on 29th August, 2010, (i.e. a week before he was expected to leave GCNet’s employment) without going through the GCNet exit processes. When GCNet detected this, it invited the Economic and Organized Crimes Organization (EOCO) to investigate the matter as some Customs Officers, Importer(s) and Clearing Agents were suspected to have been involved in the attempted data tamper. Having been reported to the EOCO, it was expected that every effort would be made to repatriate Elliot Ansah from the UK for appropriate sanctions to be taken against him as well as any other party that collaborated with him, after the finalization of the investigations. 7. GCNet WELCOMES FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS GCNet also wishes to assure the Government and People of Ghana as well as all its stakeholders, that having opened itself up for investigations by EOCO, it will welcome any new investigations to be carried out on its operations or systems. At the same time, it is ready to support any further investigation or measures that are geared at enhancing revenue mobilization as well as recovering revenue from persons and organizations that have sought to defraud the nation of revenue and whose “discrepant” declarations can be identified in GCMS. 8. GOING FORWARD In the meantime, as part of the internal review of its own processes and continuous upgrading of its systems, GCNet has taken a number of measures to further securitize its system. This includes the deployment of biometric system access by all users, in addition to the normal requirements for usernames, password, firewalls, intrusion monitoring software, etc. NORTEY K. OMABOE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN