The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) will introduce backup payment procedures for system outages after a traveller left Accra International Airport without a receipt on 3 October.
The passenger, Gifty Osei Bonsu, paid GH¢800 towards Customs duty but departed before an official receipt could be issued, prompting allegations of extortion on social media. In a statement on 9 October, the GRA apologised to her, denied any wrongdoing by its officers and said it would change how Customs handles payments when its systems fail.
The case goes to the heart of a long-running complaint from travellers at Ghana’s main gateway: cash changing hands with no paper trail. GRA’s standing advice is that every duty payment should come with an official receipt, and this one did not.
According to the GRA, Bonsu arrived on an EgyptAir flight at 12:48 p.m. Her luggage was pulled for further checks after scanning, and officers found 20 pairs of new women’s shoes, nine new dresses, 18 new men’s shirts and four new wigs. They assessed duty of GH¢807.68 on the shoes.
The Integrated Customs Management System, which processes all Customs transactions, was down when the assessment was raised, the Authority said. Bonsu told officers she had a connecting flight, paid GH¢600, and a friend added GH¢200. She left before the system came back.
The officers covered the remaining GH¢7.68 from their own pockets, the GRA said, and the full GH¢807.68 was paid into its revenue account at Ecobank at about 4:57 p.m. the same day. A receipt was later generated in her name. The Authority said its preliminary investigation found the duty “was duly accounted for”.
The GRA nonetheless accepted that Bonsu had waited too long and said a system failure should not leave passengers facing uncertainty. It is also reviewing how Customs officers deal with travellers at entry points, with a focus on professional conduct, clear explanation of duty assessments and proper records of payments.
The Authority said it is preparing guidance on which goods attract duty, how charges are calculated, and how passengers can challenge an assessment or report an officer. Details of the new procedures and complaint channels will be published later. Until then, it urged travellers with dutiable goods to insist on an assessment notice, pay only through approved channels and collect an official receipt for every payment.
Bonsu’s public account of the encounter has not been independently reviewed by NewsGhana.
It is not the first time the GRA has had to answer extortion claims at the airport. In December 2025, it rejected allegations from a traveller charged GH¢12,690.63 on 18 undeclared mobile phones, saying the duty was assessed through the Customs system and an official receipt issued.
