The Registrar-General Jemima Oware has stated that she cannot stop middlemen popularly referred to as ‘Goro boys’ from operating at the Registrar Generals Department.
Although these activities are largely illegal, the Registrar-General said these middlemen are also human beings who are working to make ends meet and as such she can’t sack them from her Office.
‘Goro boys’ are middlemen who extort money from clients to offer them supposed speedy services at both public and private institutions that are supposedly not efficient in their work in terms of meeting client needs on time.
Some anti-corruption crusaders have been campaigning against the activities of these middlemen and the payment of facilitation fees.
But reacting to questions about these activities at her department at a multi-stakeholder business Integrity forum organized by the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Registrar General, Jemima Oware, said she cannot stop the ‘goro boys’ from operating at her front office because they are human beings and Ghanaians.
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“The goro boys are human beings, they are Ghanaians and I cannot throw them out of my front office,’ she said.
Asked if she was not worried about the threat ‘goro boys’ pose to the department’s integrity and the need for an action to be take against them, Madam Oware said individuals who do business with the Registrar General’s Department should rather be smart.
“That is why I said that when you get to the front office, deal with the officers who are in the cages who are properly tagged and go through the process yourself”.
However, the Registrar General’s latest statement on Goro boys is in sharp contrast with her earlier statements a month ago in a radio interview with Joy FM.
In the interview Registrar General wondered why some business owners prefer to use middle-men also known as ‘Goro boys’ to register their business when indeed they could save time and money doing so themselves.
She said security is being intensified at the Registrar General’s Department to flush out these ‘Goro Boys.’
“Do not allow someone to register businesses for you. A business name that costs 50 cedis, you will now pay GH¢500 to a Goro guy to do that same registration for you, what’s the sense in that? We have directed our security to expel them from the yard. You engage with them at your own risk,” Jemima Oware added.
