The Gambia Revenue Authority GRA under the leadership of the Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe has signed an MoU with the University of the Gambia to foster working relationship in many areas of interest especially in capacity building.
The signing was attended by senior staff of UTG and GRA including the deputy Commissioner General and head of Domestic Taxes Ensa Jallow, director of Policy, Planning and Research Yahya Manneh, director of Legal Affairs among other senior officials of GRA.
In his welcoming remarks, deputy Commissioner General and head of domestic taxes Ensa Jallow welcomed the high-powered delegation from the University of the Gambia led by the Vice-Chancellor.
“The MOU is meant to be celebrated, because we have been working on this journey for quite a while,” Mr Jallow said. “This MOU has not just come by accident; it is something that both institutions have been tirelessly working towards to ensure that it happens.”
He said GRA had done similar things for many institutions in The Gambia “but you will agree with me that the University of the Gambia is exceptional as far as forging this kind of relations is concerned”.
Mr Jallow stated that while GRA’s main mandate is mobilisation of revenue for government, capacity building is very important to them. “We can have everything from the budget - the financial resources, but if we are not highly capacitised, it will affect the productivity of the staff,” he said.
He recalled GRA having worked with the university in many areas of capacity building, but “the MOU will strengthen the relations” GRA has with the University to explore many other areas.
“We believe that this MOU is a step in the right direction and is the beginning of many things to happen in the future,” he noted in thanking the vice-chancellor.
In his remarks, CG Yankuba Darboe thanked the UTG and his dynamic team for taking up the bold initiative to develop and sign such an important MOU.
He further praised UTG for being “very instrumental in pushing this agenda to happen”. “Today both parties should celebrate for this MOU,” he said, adding that everything is time bound.
“Having this MOU is a plus because most of the GRA staff are UTG graduates,” he said. “We as management encourage our staff to pursue their degrees at the UTG instead of outside the country.
“We need to be proud of our own and ensure that other countries come to learn from us in The Gambia.”
He also expressed appreciation and delight that more than 200 graduates of GRA staff are from the UTG. “I am very proud of myself coming from the UTG and I am equally proud to see young Gambians coming from the UTG. We must learn to be proud of our own products.”
For his part, the vice-chancellor of the UTG, Professor Herbert Robinson, said: “We appreciate the support of GRA and hope that we can do great things together.”
He cited the potential of the GRA management in its transformational journey, saying: “The GRA’s transformation is there for all to see the results.” He cited the digitilisation drive GRA has been utilising to ensure a lot of positive transformation in its system.
Thus he commended the management of GRA for their firm commitment and dedication to transforming GRA. “We recognise all your priorities, and we are ready to support you in terms of any policy action you want to take,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr Lang Sanyang, director of research, thanked the management of the GRA under the leadership of the Commissioner General for the sealed cooperation.
UTG has this relationship with GRA for many years, he said, adding: “Before the signing of the MOU the relation has been there. We have had the opportunity to interact with GRA so many years in terms of training and also consultancy assignments. All those were as a result of the motivation and encouragement of the Commissioner General.”
