The
Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), in partnership with various stakeholders on
Wednesday 13 November, 2019, reviewed a five-year draft GRA Corporate Strategic
Plan 2020-2024.
The
forum accords stakeholders the opportunity to understand the overall strategic
direction of the GRA, specially the vision, mission, values and strategic goal
and objectives for the next five years.
In
his welcoming remarks, Commissioner General GRA Yankuba Darboe, described the
draft strategic plan as ambitious.
According
to Mr. Darboe, the draft document is one of the most important pillars in our
national development objectives, indicating that it has become a norm for the
GRA to devise an instrument every five years to serve as a guide in its task of
revenue mobilisation.
The
GRA boss further stated that the forum served as an opportunity to hear from
various stakeholders; their views and inputs and contributions to the plan in
the next five years.
“The
draft strategic plan also recognises the ability of the internal challenges and
opportunities that can influence the attainment of the corporate objective
embodied in the plan,” he said.
Mr.
Darboe expressed hope that the forum with relevant stakeholders would produce
the desired results by receiving valuable inputs with a view to enriching the
documents and help serve their clients, partners and government better.
The
board chairperson of GRA, Lucy Mamganga Fye Jagne, said the strategic plan
placed before them by GRA management constitutes both a direction and a
challenge, pointing out that it would not be a paper tiger that “we grace
occasionally in the years to come.”
“We
at GRA see it as a challenge that must be confronted head-on in the interest of
the Authority and The Gambia at large. Pursuant to that, we solicit the full
support of the Ministry of Finance and international donor community to take
the Authority to a higher level,” she stated.
The
permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Mod Secka,
said as the current plan 2015 to 2019 is about to phase out at the end of the
year, it is befitting that it is succeeded by another plan in order to continue
and consolidate the gains made over the past five years.
He
said the GRA recognises the fact that it plays a pivotal role in the economy
and would therefore require the inputs and contributions of the key players in
“our economy to further enrich the draft document.”
