By Omar Bah
The Minister of Information, Dr Ismaila Ceesay, has confirmed to The Standard yesterday that the government has given a two-year contract to the Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Authority, Yankuba Darboe, a few days before his statutory retirement. Mr Darboe has been serving as head of the revenue agency since 2014.
In response to a Standard question yesterday on whether the government will retain Mr Darboe on a contract or appoint a new commissioner general, Minister Ceesay tersely stated: “He has been given a two-year contract.”
During his stewardship, Yankuba Darboe has been credited with transforming GRA by introducing structural and systemic reforms, including digitalisation of systems and capacity building resulting in record revenue collections and surpassing targets set by the government annually.
In 2024, GRA exceeded its target of D19.2 billion in revenue collection by over D1 billion and the authority is currently working on mobilising a new target of D23 billion for 2025 with continued focus on innovation and reforms.
A career customs officer with extensive experience in revenue mobilisation and tax administration, Darboe holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MBA in management.
This paper named him Gambian of The Year for 2023 and last year, he was honoured by the World Health Organisation for his contributions to tobacco control in The Gambia.
He is also the chairperson of the West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) and is a council member of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF).
The Standard could not elicit comments from Mr Darboe yesterday as he was said to have travelled on an IMF mission in the subregion.
