Over 200 GYEEDA Workers Sacked�As GRA Seeks To Avoid Exposure of Confidential Information

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has sought to rid its premises of �unauthorized persons� in a memo issued to all heads of the institution. The letter to that effect issued on July 10, 2013, which this paper has a copy stated that �It has come to the notice of management that some Heads/Supervisors of offices have allowed unauthorized persons to work on GRA premises without proper authorization, thus exposing them confidential information.� The directive immediately sparked an institutional clamp down of all contract staff, including over 400 personnel from the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Authority (GYEEDA), who have worked for GRA between four to two years, expecting to be regularize just like their predecessors who were absorbed as permanent staff by the tax institution. The Deputy Commissioner, Human Resources of GRA, E.K. Enyimayew signed the directive to all Heads/Supervisors to serve any private relationship they may have entered into with �unauthorized persons� working illegally with the GRA. The memo further stated, �Management will not hesitate to apply sanctions to any head/supervisors who flout the above directive.� However, the affected GYEEDA personnel have therefore petitioned President John Mahama and the Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr. George Blankson to rescue them from their current predicaments, citing an employment advertisement issued in the media by GRA without considering the core group of contract staff for those vacant positions. Part of the petition to the GRA boss states �after completing the two year mandatory term, the NYEP/GYEEDA interns are absorbed into the mainstream as permanent staff. However, this practice has not been the case for the past three years, and as it stands now, we do not know our fate.� While a petition to the President also stated that �contract appointment have been recently given individuals to undertake Rent Tax Operation exercise without considering we the NYEP/GYEEDA interns into the bargain, with our requisite experience and qualification.� According to the GYEEDA interns, they trust the President can use his high office to prompt the GRA management to halt their action to lay them off without considering some of them for the advertised vacancy in the revenue agency. Meanwhile, these reporters made several efforts to get reaction from the Deputy Commission General, Human Resource and Public Affairs of GRA, but all the efforts were unsuccessful.