Julie Essiam to be appointed first female Commissioner-General of GRA

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is set to be governed by its first female Commissioner General, Ms. Julie Essiam.

This comes after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo relieved the outgoing Commis­sioner-General of the GRA, Dr. Ammi­shaddai Owusu-Amoah, of his duties on March 27, 2024.

President Akufo-Addo subsequently dissolved the GRA's board with plans to reconstitute a new one.

Ms. Essiam, prior to her appointment, was in charge of the Support Services Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority as the Commissioner.

She was also second in command and deputy to the Commissioner-General.

According to the GRA’s website, Julie Essiam is an accomplished Banking Executive with a professional passion for sustainable transformation and development work.

She has championed and led in developing and transforming businesses, developing talent and communities.

Ms. Essiam was first appointed in 2019 as the Commissioner for the Support Services Division of Authority which is mandated to serve as a conduit of support to the two operational divisions i.e. [Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) and the Customs Division (CD)], and the Commissioner General’s Secretariat to enable them to perform their functions efficiently to aid in revenue mobilization efforts.

She oversaw departments such as Human Resources; Finance, Administration, and Information.

Prior to her appointment at the GRA, Ms. Julie Essiam was the Group Executive at the Ecobank Group with branches covering 40 countries across North America, Europe, Africa, and other parts of the world.

She is the concept originator and the founder of Africans4Africa (A4A) initiation; a private sector-led development organization that calls for a collaborative effort across the leadership of Africa to contribute to the achievement of an impactful transformation of the continent towards a thriving and prosperous Africa.

Ms. Julie Essiam was a member of the Ecobank Group Executive Committee and has been on the boards of Ecobank Zambia, the Ecobank Foundation, and three board committees of the Ecobank Group-Finance and Audit, Risk, and HR.

Ms. Julie Essiam was also the immediate past Board Member of the Global Fund and the President of the Private Sector delegation of the Global Fund.

MA/EB