President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, on Monday, officially inaugurated the D42 million Revenue House of the Gambia Revenue Authority, Banjul, a day before the 14th anniversary of the July 22 Revolution.

President Jammeh used the opportunity to warn against complacency, nepotism, corruption and sabotage. While stressing the need for sustained impressive performance in revenue collection, the president implored the officials at the GRA to live up to expectations and consider every success as a challenge.

He then urged every Gambian of tax-paying age, businesses and organisations, to live up to their tax obligations, which he described as a national duty and responsibility.

"Payment of tax not only constitutes a divine order, but also gives the taxpayer the right to demand for balanced public services in return. Therefore, we must avoid every tendency to evade taxes, since this constitutes a serious economic crime that anyone found culpable of will be brought to book," he said.

President Jammeh advised the GRA to deal firmly with all tax defaulters who deny government revenue.

He also advised the authority to limit its capacity to development programmes for the benefit of the people and warned against the "Maslaha" syndrome, which robs rather than enriches the country in many ways. According to him, the term [Maslaha] is seriously abused by unscrupulous people who see state resources being vandalised through tax evasion, outright theft, or aiding and abetting others to declare false and inaccurate returns just to pay little or no tax at all.

He added that those with the habit should desist from it, as this tantamounts to unpatriotic behavior and economic sabotage, which will never be tolerated.

The Gambian leader strongly advised all stakeholders - tax collectors, tax payers and the general public at large - to be their own watchdogs and desist from such malpractices so that together, The Gambia can achieve the development goals that everyone aspires for.

According to him, the objective of creating the GRA is to ensure that an appropriate institutional system is in place to serve as a one-stop-shop for harnessing the revenue collection potential of the country, by enforcing stricter adherence to tax obligations to the state. He observed that since the creation of the GRA, revenue collection has increased steadily from D2.3 billion in 2004 to D3.3 billion in 2007. He praised some impressive performances registered by the GRA and commended the management for their honesty and dedication to duty, as well as the protection of the common good.

President Jammeh stated that with a cost of over D40 million, it is incumbent upon the management, the Board and all the staff of the authority to ensure that the structure is put to good use and properly maintained.

He told the gathering that the government would do everything possible to ensure that there is stability in the macroeconomic environment at all times, a necessary condition for balanced growth and sustainable development.

He thanked the development partners, notably the International Development Association of the World Bank and the  Capacity Building & Economic Management Project (CBEMP) for their efforts towards the success of the project.

For his part, Musa Gibril Bala Gaye, the secretary of state for Finance and Economic Affairs, described the new edifice as a clear testimony of the amount of work and effort chipped in by all concerned to ensure that the end result was positive.

SoS Gaye added that the service delivery to taxpayers has been uppermost in the priorities of government, adding that as a government, they are committed to the allocation of sufficient resources within the budget constraints to ensure that GRA's capacity to deliver its mandate is put on a sustainable platform for the foreseeable future. "In recognition of this fact, we have in the last two years directed substantial resources to the GRA in order to build its capacity to render efficient services to the citizens of this country," he said, adding that they have "increased the budgetary allocation to the GRA from D69 million in 2006 to D129 million in 2008.

"Furthermore, reforms are ongoing through the revival of the income tax computerised process (GAMTAXNET) and the introduction of the new unique Taxpayers Identification Number (TIN) in order to have a more realistic taxpayers data base," he elaborated.

The Finance and Economic Affairs SoS then commended the GRA for exceeding its 2007 target by close to D300 million in its first year of operation. He also thanked the CBEMP PCU, the project consultant, contractor, and the GRA management for their efforts in the realisation of the goals.

Momodou Kabba Tambajang, the commissioner general of the GRA, highlighted the major achievements of GRA. He stated their commitment to continue playing their rightful role in the mobilisation of domestic financial resources to enhance The Gambia's financial independence and sovereignty and to achieve the Vision 2020 goal of transforming The Gambia into a large-income economy.

The GRA boss then saluted the government and recognised the personal assistance of President Jammeh. He also thanked the staff of GRA for a job well done over the years.

Other speakers included Mr Rene Geoffery Renner, the chairman of the GRA Board of directors, Joseph Sarr, the consultant and architect of the building and Fatou Leigh, the project director of the Capacity Building & Economic Management Project (CBEMP).

At the end of the ceremony, President Jammeh also unveiled the new GRA plague and later toured the premises.  

Present at ceremony were the vice-president, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, the speaker of the National Assembly, Hon Fatoumatta  Jahumpa-Ceesay, the chief justice, Abdou Karim Savage, secretaries of state, and members of the diplomatic corps, among others.