In a bid to boost domestic revenue generation and support service delivery, the Taskforce on Domestic Revenue Mobilisation, established by the Minister of Finance, Ahmed Sheku Fantamadi Bangura, held its inaugural meeting on Thursday, February 27th, at the Ministry of Finance building on George Street.

The Task force committee comprises the Chairman, Bockarie Kalokoh, the Deputy Minister of Finance; Madam Jeneba Bangura, the Commissioner General of the National Revenue Authority; the Financial Secretary; senior staff of the Ministry of Finance and NRA; and representatives from the Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) and the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law (CARL), representing Civil Society and non-state actors.

Key among the scope of work of the Task force is to provide technical facilitation to ensure that the implementation of the Medium-Term Revenue Strategy and Finance Act is aligned with the overall government strategy to boost domestic revenue, review the revenue collection process, auditing of systems and identify key challenges, including making recommendations to the government.

The Task force will also propose interventions to enhance domestic revenue mobilisation and improve the transparency, stability, sustainability, efficiency, and integrity of Tax systems, among other things.

Making his statement at the maiden meeting, the Chairman of the Taskforce, Bockarie Kalokoh, welcomed members to the meeting, stating that they have a very critical assignment to reverse the current state of domestic revenue mobilisation and to ensure that the state maximise its revenue potential.

Mr Kalokoh further stated that the setting up of the committee is in no way undermining the Authority of the National Revenue Authority but rather complementing its efforts to collect the much-needed revenue for the development of the state.

He noted that the inclusion of civil society and non-state actors as members of the committee is a demonstration of transparency in the process and also to ensure fairness in tax administration.

The Chairman of the board of NRA, Kabineh Kallon, welcomed the Taskforce and committed the support of the board and management of NRA.

Ibrahim Tommy, Executive Director of the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law (CARL), thanked the Minister and the Ministry of Finance for inviting CSOs and NSAs to serve in the Taskforce.

He noted that CARL and BAN have been working around issues of tax and the economy and are very, very interested in the outcome of the work of the Task force.

The Taskforce will meet weekly to submit strategic and technical recommendations to turn around the current state of domestic revenue mobilisation.

©MOF Communications