By Adama Makasuba
President Adama Barrow has said that the country can no longer rely on foreign aid to fund national projects, as it is not reasonable to depend on other nations to implement national projects.
Speaking at the 4th edition of the Gambia Revenue Authority’s annual taxpayers’ award ceremony held on Saturday, 29 January 2022 at Kairaba Hotel where he acknowledged the importance of tax in national development, as he cited projects solely funded by the Gambian government through taxes.
“The Gambia is a tax-based economy. We will continuously explore local funding to implement most of our development projects. Covid-19 has ravaged the economies of donor countries. We can no longer rely on foreign aid to fund national projects.”
On empowering Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) for efficient and effective performance, the President pledged his support to enable the national revenue collection agency perform better.
“Reforming tax administration is central to addressing the economic challenges of the country and funding gaps in order to fulfil our development obligations. To realize this, my government will continue to provide the required policy environment, the political will and the feasible material supports for GRA to perform optimally”
Yankuba Darboe,Commissioner General of GRA, highlighted on improvement the revenue authority has made since they started collecting revenue for the State.
“Since we started operation in 2006, the authority has been able to raise revenue from 2.8 billion in 2006 to over 12.8 billion in 2021,” he said.
Mr. Darboe stressed, “We have registered a high degree of compliance from the private sector. Bravo to those complying. The Gambia Revenue Authority is committed to providing optimum client serve to our taxpayers in order to enhance good professional relationship between the Authority and taxpayers and create the right environment for businesses to prosper”
Lucy Fye Jagne, GRA Board Chairperson, said they have made significant progress in moving from paper-based revenue collection to an automated system.
“Our digitalization agenda has been a goal in our current and previous strategic plans, and it is a legacy that the current management of the Authority wants to leave behind. The transformation of GRA from manual revenue collection to automation is our dream.”
Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Honorable Mambury Njie described tax as the lifeblood of the national economy and lauded the GRA and taxpayers for fulfilling their obligations.
Over 30 individuals were recognized and awarded by GRA for tax compliance. Africell was recognized as the largest taxpayer of the year.
The annual exercise initiated four years ago is to honour and recognize the most tax compliant institutions across the country and raise awareness on the importance of generating taxes for improved national development.