A former Rector of the Ghana Institute Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, has disclosed his intentions to keep mute over current affairs of the state until after the December 07 elections.
The Professor has disclosed that he is putting his comments about the current administration together in a book which will be released after the polls.
His reason, is that he doesn’t want to be tagged as influencing the choices of people with his book on the upcoming elections.
The academic, economist, writer, educator, lay preacher, and statesman, tells Techfocus24 in an exclusive interview that the book titled ’15 Months in the Lion’s Den’ is expected to be explosive.
The book, according to the former Board Chair of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), details his observations about the way the government he worked for, during that 15-month period, managed affairs of the State.
“I want to keep things simple and wait for my book, I5 Months in the Lion’s Den,” he stated.
Explaining his rationale for making the book public after the December 07 election, he said “I am hanging on because I don’t want to have any influence over Ghanaian politics. Since it’s election year, a lot of people will claim that Stephen Adei wanted to sway the results if I publish the book.”
“I can only speak about what I know since I have the honour of holding a high public office; I am not able to draw comparisons between what I know and what I do not know. I need to be taken seriously when I make statements as a statesman,” he further remarked.
He, however, made some disclosure about his experience about how things worked during his time at the GRA. He explained that people were nominated based on “connection” rather than on merit.
He disclosed for instance that at a time when five acting Deputy Commissioners were to be confirmed, his Board decided to invite all eligible candidates to apply, adding that those who applied later were more qualified than those who were acting and ultimately losing their jobs to the most qualified.
He further disclosed that the current Commissioner General of the GRA, Julie Essiam, was scheduled to retire in April 2021 because it was during the time he was made Board Chair that she was appointed Commissioner of Support Services. He, however, finds it surprising that the woman who is supposed to be 64 years by now is claiming to be 61 when she was recently appointed Commissioner General.
The former chair of the GRA Board added that his board observed a culture in which commissioners attended meetings and advanced their agendas in the same way as other board members. However, instead of having every Commissioner show up at every board meeting, his board forbade them from attending and advised them to speak with the then-Commissioner General to submit their suggestions to board meetings.
“We were able to work much more smoothly and effectively with little interference from people with parochial interests when we did that,” he disclosed.
He mentioned among others, the practice where officials of the GRA elude legal procedures to jeopardise the future of Ghana, citing an example where the current CG, serving as Commissioner for Support Services at the time, circumvented the board to negotiate a contract with a Kenyan company without permission.
He also said the allegations of Julie Essiam transferring domestic tax mobilisation to an Indian business without recourse to the proper proper procedures and consultation with the board “is therefore not surprising.”
He expressed optimism with finding a publisher after the polls to contribute and publish the book.
