Ghana Revenue Authority Credit Union Gets Buses For Members

The Co-operative Credit Union of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has unveiled 150 minibuses for members of the union. The Commissioner-General of the GRA, Mr George Blankson, said the buses were an opportunity for staff of the authority to become transport owners and earn extra incomes, thereby securing their economic future. He added that it was also an opportunity for the GRA Credit Union to improve the incomes of their shareholders, thereby complementing other pension benefits available to staff. At a ceremony to officially unveil the new vehicles, Mr Blankson said �the business activity engendered by this transaction would bring tax income to the GRA and improve the economy as a whole. He also used the occasion to encourage other welfare bodies within the GRA to emulate the example of the credit union. The Chairman of the GRA Co-operative Credit Union, Mr Godwin Aaron Monyo, hinted that the GRA Credit Union was expecting a total of 450 mini buses and 200 saloon cars by the end of September, this year, to be given to members under the Credit Union Auto Car Loan Scheme. He explained that the union, which began with 80 members of staff in 1997 and relaunched following the integration of the revenue agencies, had grown steadily over the years with its membership standing at 4,402 as of the end of December, 2012 with total assets amounting to GH�12 million. Mr Monyo further explained that the facility would also serve as a welfare package and a motivating factor in protecting national revenue that the authority is tasked to collect. The board chairman of Accra Credit Union Association, Mr Akuamoah Boateng, said the launch of the mini buses signified the extent of growth and desire for vital welfare service delivery to their members. �It is in this vein that I appeal to those who will benefit from this facility to honour the agreement attached to it so that this noble idea could be sustained while maintaining the basic business operations of the credit union,� he stressed. The credit union board brokered an agreement with JMET Corporation of China to manufacture the vehicles for the union.