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Registrar-General introduces business registration
online
Accra, Feb. 27, Ghanadot/GNA - The
Registrar-General’s Department on Wednesday begins
electronic (online) registration of businesses with the
commissioning of an automated front desk office aimed at
reducing delays and also stamping out corrupt practices.
This means that registration of businesses in Ghana would be
fast-tracked and streamlined within a maximum of five days,
compared with the 14 days stipulated by the World Bank.
In addition, the Department has opened fully automated
offices in Kumasi and Takoradi and will open another in
Tamale to decentralise the process of business registration
to save time and resources for the many business operators
and prospective entrepreneurs who throng the Department for
service.
Addressing the media at a pre-commissioning dinner on
Wednesday in Accra, Mr Joe Ghartey, Minister of Justice and
Attorney-General, said the new face of registration formed
part of the Government's Business Law Reform Programme that
started in 2002.
He said under the programme Ghana's Business Code, which was
drafted many years ago to suit the economy at that time,
would be reviewed with many major changes to be introduced.
Mr. Ghartey said the major changes would centre on areas
such as laws on insolvency, intellectual property and
non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The Department hopes that by 2009, individuals, corporate
bodies and religious organisations could start their
registration process and other activities online.
Mr Joseph Kofi Harley, the Acting Registrar-General, said
the aim of the reforms at the Department was to reduce
stress and corruption if not eradicate them entirely in the
registration of business.
He said the Department was fully in support of the business
law reforms programme being spearheaded by the Ministry of
Justice and Attorney-General and would ensure that
investment made into the Department did not go to waste.
“Gone will be the days when files would be said to be lost
because now the Registrar General's Department is capable of
registering business even half-a day,” Mr. Harley said.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Lawrence
Lartey, Information Technology (IT) Manager, said a lot had
been done at the department from the installation of the
Local Area Network (LAN) to procurement of several computers
and their accessories to the equipping staff to be
accustomed to the new environment.
He said the department would link its activities to the
Government e-governance programme next year.
"The Registrar-General’s Department, Internal Revenue
Service (IRS), VAT Service, Large Tax Unit (LTU) and
Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) have been
selected for the pilot project on the e-governance and when
it becomes operational, access to data, among all these
institutions would be a matter of a click on the computer,"
Mr Lartey said.
The Department, he added, had installed an electronic door
system to upgrade the security system and in partnership
with the Fidelity Bank, mechanisms have also been put in
place to automatically channel all transactions charges/fees
to the bank for onward transfer to the Bank of Ghana.
"This will not only reduce tremendously the stress and time
that people go through during the registration process but
also the handling of cash and checking of corrupt practices
in the Department," Mr Lartey said.
GNA
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