Companies Of  Senior Customer  Officer In Trouble! ...As They Were Hauled Before SSNIT For Non-Payment Of Workers SSNIT Contribution

A call has been made to the management of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) by a whistleblower to invite the public officer with Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) stationed at the Tema Port and Harbour long Room Post Clearance Audit, Mr. Augustine Atta Adubofou to substantiate the reason why he fails to register and pay SSNIT contributions to the workers who are working with his companies.

The existing companies such as Perfect God Enterprises Plot 4, block 9A Asafo Kumasi, Adu–Krom Construction Limited Plot 4, block 9A Asafo Kumasi and TKO Frozen Food Limited at Tema community 7 Near Santol Fuel Station, according to the whistleblower, were registered in Mr. Adubofou's name without prior seeking clearance from the Chief Revenue Officer of the GRA as mandated by the code of ethics of customs officers.

The whistleblower spilled the bean of the companies in a petition submitted to SSNIT on  Monday, February 14, 2022, and copied to the Commissioner-General of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The petition which was intercepted by DAILY GHANAIAN GUIDE was entitled "REPORT OF FAILURE TO REGISTER AND PAY WORKERS SSNIT CONTRIBUTIONS SINCE INCORPORATION BY BUSINESSMAN MR. AUGUSTINE ATTA ADUBOFOUR IS IN CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE NATIONAL PENSIONS ACT 766 OF 2008.

The two-page petition reads: "I write as a whistleblower and a citizen of the republic mandated by the 1992 constitution to report acts and interest that are not in the interest of the general good and wellbeing of the country, Ghana.

The petition added that the aforementioned businessman is also a senior public officer with the Ghana Revenue Authority stationed at the Tema long Room (Post Clearance Audit) who allegedly owns the following companies registered in his name without prior seeking clearance from the Chief Revenue Officer as mandated by the code of ethics of customs officers:Perfect God Enterprises Plot 4, block 9A Asafo Kumasi – Ghana, Adu – Krom construction Limited Plot 4, block 9A Asafo Kumasi – Ghana and TKO frozen Food Limited Tema community 7 Near Santol Fuel station Tema.

The petitioner pointed that "Respectfully Sir, the first two companies are not registered with SSNIT even though they were incorporated since 2012 and the said officer who is the owner and one of the Directors is not paying the workers contributions since registration. 

According to the petition, "The two companies are allegedly having a total of fifty-five staff/ workers, adding that "This act is a clear violation of sections 63 and 96 of Act 766 of the SSNIT Act and for that reason, an afront to our laws.

"Interestingly again Sir, the last company though incorporated in 2017 is also allegedly not registered with SSNIT since its incorporation and for that matter, the worker's SSNIT contributions are also not being paid. This company too has a total of twenty-two staff/workers as at the time of writing this report. Sir, his deliberate refusal to register and pay workers' contributions is also an affront to sections 58, 63, and 96 of Act 766 of the SSNIT Act.

"One thing which is very disturbing and mindboggling is the fact that, this act is perpetrated by a senior public officer of the Ghana Revenue Authority, who is a senior revenue collector and if he could deliberately and selfishly decline to register and accordingly pay his workers SSNIT contributions speaks volumes of what he could do as a customs officer at the port, a place that has been deemed to have a lot of leakages leading to millions of Ghana cedi going waste or in the drain.

"Sir these acts if not curbed and nip in the bud and severely sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to other employers who deliberately enrich themselves at the expense of the poor worker without taking their statutory obligations seriously,' the petition noted.

For this reason, the petition stated that "I wish to formally report the conduct of Mr. Augustine Atta Adubofour and the Directors of these companies for the necessary further investigations and sanctions to be applied where necessary Sir."