GRA builds ultramodern headquarters to save GH¢4m annual rent

• Posted on June 30, 2022June 30, 2022
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The much-anticipated Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Head Office will leave staff and visitors in awe as the ultra-modern and expansive new building is designed to provide staff and visitors to the revenue mobilisation agency with an experience of space, friendly work areas and a good car park.

GH¢491m project is on 13,725 square meters land
The GH¢491 million facility is a seven-storey twin tower with a total office area of 13,725 square meters (sqm).

GH¢4m annual rent to be saved
When completed, it will save GRA the payment of more than GH¢4 million in annual rent for head office staff alone for 4,600 square meters in six separate buildings.
Currently, GRA operates mainly from its head office situated off Starlets ’91 Road at the Ministries Area.
The building together with its annexes is legacies from the former revenue agencies that merged to become the GRA.  
Over the years, GRA has renovated and refurbished its current head office buildings to make them fit for purpose.
Therefore, the decision to build its own ultra-modern and spacious office structure was conceived by the Board and Management of GRA to address the office accommodation requirements of the Revenue Agency.
When completed, the new GRA head office complex will host all the headquarters staff, who are currently housed in the existing head office at the Ministries and six other rented buildings in Accra.

Construction started in January this year
Construction works started in January this year and is now due to be completed in two years’ time.

Devtraco won a competitive tender
It is being executed by Devtraco Builders Limited, which won a competitive tender.

GH¢74.36m mobilization paid to Devtraco
The company was paid about GH¢74.36 million as mobilisation fees, paving the way for the construction process to begin.

Progress of work so far
During a media tour of the site, workers were seen excavating the ground and finalisng processes for the foundational pillars to be erected.

Project to be completed in 2 years
The Project Manager Mr. Sidney Quaye, said work is progressing smoothly and the two-year timeline will be met.
He also gave the assurance that the work is being done on schedule.

The tour was to update the media on the progress of work on the project, which GRA described as historic, transformational and necessary to ending years of renting and the scattered nature of its head office staff due to the lack of a spacious head office facility to accommodate all.


Project is long overdue
Mrs Florence Asante, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Communication and Public Affairs, told the media that the project is long overdue, given its immense benefits to the authority and the country as a whole.
She explained that when completed, the project will help address the office accommodation and parking space constraints facing the authority.
According to her, the current GRA head office at the Ministries is unable to house all the relevant staff.

 Other buildings hosting GRA staff
As a result, she said some staff, who were supposed to be operating from the head office, are currently operating from Shippers House, Heritage Towers and Platinum Heights.
Mrs Asante said the rest are operating from the Osu Revenue Towers while others were stationed at the Customs Head Office, all in Accra.
Beyond the inconvenience of not being under one roof, Mrs Asante said it is expensive to run the rented offices.
This, she said made the construction of a single office for all staff a necessity, economical and long overdue.
GRA’s Head of Communications and Public Affairs explained that the new head office building will have enough office spaces and adjoining infrastructure for all of GRA’s head office staff.
It will also provide enough parking lots for staff and visitors, thereby eliminating the parking constraints that visitors to the authority’s main head office at the Ministries currently faced.
Conceived around 2016, the GRA head office under construction was initially envisaged to be sited at the Airport Area, opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, in Accra.

National financial enclave
Mrs Asante, however, said it was relocated to the current site at Kanda in line with the government’s decision to host key agencies of the Ministry of Finance in one location to be referred to as the national financial enclave.
She explained that the Kanda site is found to be appropriate for the government’s agenda and it had since been allocated to GRA, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), among other agencies to start the construction of their head offices.
According to her, the change in site delayed the project timelines but expressed the hope that work will now continue unabated.
She said the authority and the contractor had also agreed to execute the project in the new site under the same terms as was agreed with the earlier one although the Kanda project was bigger than the one that was to be executed at the Airport Area.

-The Finder