Professor Emeritus Stephen Adei, a highly regarded academic, economist, writer, educator, lay preacher, and statesman from Ghana, has made indications that he is working on a book that would be released after the 2024 elections and is titled “15 Months in the Lion’s Den.” The book is expected to be explosive.
During his 15-month tenure as the Board Chairman of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Prof. Adei said in an exclusive interview with Puretvonline.com and Techfocus24 that the book documents his observations about the way the government he worked for managed the nation’s affairs.
“I want to keep things simple and wait for my book, I5 Months in the Lion’s Den,” he stated.
He said he has chosen to hold off on publishing the book until after the 2024 elections in order to avoid any accusations that he released it on purpose during an election year in an attempt to sway voters’ opinions.
“I am hanging on because I don’t want to have any influence over Ghanaian politics,” Since it’s election year, a lot of people will claim that Stephen Adei wanted to sway the results if I publish the book, he added.
“I can only speak about what I know since I have the honour of holding a high public office; I am not able to draw comparisons between what I know and what I do not know. I need to be taken seriously when I make statements as a statesman,” he remarked.
However, he made some inroads concerning how things worked out at GRA throughout his term, stating that his board discovered early on that many nominations at GRA were made out of “connection” rather than merit.
For example, he pointed out that five acting Deputy Commissioners needed to be confirmed. However, as soon as his board was elected, they made the decision to invite all eligible candidates to apply for those posts. All five of the acting deputies ultimately lost their jobs at GRA to other candidates who were more qualified.
Prof. Adei further stated that he was aware that Julie Essiam, the current Commissioner General of GRA, was scheduled to retire in April 2021. Essiam was appointed Commissioner of Support Services at the same time he was designated Board Chair. He finds it surprising, therefore, that she claimed to be 61 years old when she was appointed CG recently. She ought to be at least 64 by now, in his opinion.
The former chair of the GRA Board added that his board observed a culture in which commissioners attended meetings and advanced their agendas in the same way as other board members. However, instead of having every Commissioner show up at every board meeting, his board forbade them from attending and advised them to speak with the then-Commissioner General to submit their suggestions to board meetings.
“We were able to work much more smoothly and effectively with little interference from people with parochial interests when we did that,” he said.
The former statesman said to have seen first-hand how some GRA officials had grown accustomed to eluding legal procedures and jeopardising the future of the entire nation. He gave the example of the current CG, who was a Commissioner for Support Services at the time, circumventing the board to negotiate a contract with a Kenyan company without permission.
The fact that Julie Essiam allegedly transferred domestic tax mobilisation to an Indian business today without according to the proper procedures and without consulting the board, he stated, “is therefore not surprising.”
Prof. Adei expressed his optimism that he will find a publisher soon after the elections who will contribute the funds required to print the book.