The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has responded to the North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, after he filed a request under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, asking for information about what he said are two Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) being held by Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, contrary to the norm that each individual is supposed to have a single TIN.
Ablakwa had earlier alleged that Rev. Boateng was using different identities and different TINs with which he operates different businesses and entities.
Following up with his allegations which he had shared on various media platforms, the North Tongu MP on January 25, 2023, filed a request asking the GRA to explain why one person could be issued with two different TINs which the country’s laws forbid.
In two requests to the Commissioner General of the GRA and the Registrar General, Ablakwa is asking for information on the actions the two institutions have undertaken to address the supposed multiple identities and Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) being used by Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng or Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, the Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral.
He wants to find out how long it will take the GRA to conclusively address the issues he has raised under the laws of the country.
However, the GRA in a letter dated February 3, 2023, addressed to Okudzeto Ablakwa, explained how the different TINS were acquired by the two persons.
It said at the time of the registration for Kusi Boateng (August 13, 2013) and Adu Gyamfi (March 15, 2016), “the registration system was not biometric and did not have any facial recognition features for the detection of duplicate faces” and explained that it had started investigations into the claim by Ablakwa that the two individuals were the same person, who was using the double identity for criminal reasons.
Source: EMMANUEL TORNYI