GRA ladies charged to help achieve revenue targets
Women working in various units of the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) have been charged to channel all their efforts to help the authority to achieve it's annual revenue target for this year.
The GRA has been tasked to mobilise a total of GH¢80.4 billion revenue for the state.
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Achieving the target, according to the Commissioner, Support Services Division of the GRA, Ms Julie Essiam, would depend on the effort of women working in the authority.
She made the observation during the commemoration of this year's International Women's Day celebration by the ladies club of GRA in Accra last Tuesday.
This year's global international women’s day is themed "breaking the bias" to celebrate women’s achievements and to reinforce a commitment to women’s equality.
The local theme by the GRA ladies club was "breaking the bias — the role of GRA ladies”.
Actions
Ms Essiam urged the ladies of GRA to include in their annual plans, activities such as tax education campaigns, among others, that would help raise the needed revenue.
She also urged them to take time to reflect on their role as ladies in the authority and what they could do differently to ensure that, "we have pride of place in the country, our communities, our families and, especially, at the workplace."
Women, she said, could not afford to be limited by widely held stereotypes that hinder their progress.
"As women, we are unique but our uniqueness need not disadvantage us. It is a fact that culturally, economically and socially, among others, women have experienced and continue to experience some form of biases, which have over the years made it difficult for them to move forward," she said.
Ms Essiam said the "biases cannot be wished away with flowery and nice sounding slogans and phrases. It calls for hard work, dedication and commitment to change the generally held status quo."
Women, she said, must, therefore, be ready and willing to go the extra mile and break through the glass ceiling.
She urged the members of the ladies club to be united and look out for each other, helping and encouraging one another.
"For us to break the bias, we must not have a divided front, we must help and pull along those lagging behind while applauding those making exploits. The failure of one lady, is the failure of all and the success of one is the success of all," she said.
Opportunities
The Commissioner-General of the GRA, Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, said biases against women made it difficult for them to progress and it was important to break such biases.
He said the GRA was committed to supporting all its female employees to “rise and make huge differences".
Already, a number of women occupy leadership positions in the GRA such as the Commissioner Support Services |Division, Deputy Commissioners, Area Directors Office Managers and Sector Commanders, among others.
Mr Owusu-Amoah urged women not to shy away from leadership positions but be bold and confident to take advantage of career opportunities that came their way.
National President of the GRA Ladies Club, Vivien Ne-ormah Nyoni, commended the management of the GRA for supporting women empowerment.
She urged the management of the GRA to continue to give women “seats at the table and encourage women to speak out" in addition to setting goals around female involvement at all levels.
Empowerment
Assistant Commissioner, Area head of GRA Spintex, Nana Esi Adade Amankwa said forging women empowerment in GRA, must include giving all women equal access to the knowledge, tools, resources, opportunities, and skills necessary to enable them compete and thrive.
She commended the GRA for creating equal opportunities for men and women saying, there were many women occupying high positions in the authority currently.
For women to be recognised and given opportunities to take up leadership positions, she advised women “to show real commitment, demonstrate professional knowledge and good skills and be ready to contribute, in no small way, towards the overall growth and development of GRA and the nation."