The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is demanding the immediate termination of all illegal contracts entered between Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) following the KPGM audit report released by President Akufo-Addo.
President Akufo-Addo ordered KPMG to audit the contract between the two entities on January 2, 2024.
After the audit report was submitted, a press statement from the Presidency on April 24, 2024, disclosed that the total fees paid under the contracts from 2018 until the suspension date amounted to over one billion Ghana cedis.
During the Moment of Truth series, the National Communications Officer for the NDC, Sammy Adu Gyamfi, stated that all illegal contracts between GRA and SML be terminated.
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“We in the NDC here demand the immediate termination of all, not some, all illegal contracts entered between SML and the GRA. Here we are talking about their transaction audit agreements, their external price verification agreements, and their downstream petroleum audit agreements,” said.
Gyamfi also questioned why the president is keeping the full report sponsored by state money.
“KPMG did not do that work for free, they were paid by the Ghanaian taxpayer…so why are you keeping that report like a CIA confidential report in your drawer in your office?” he added.
He further urged the government to release the full report.
“The NDC demands the immediate publication of the full KPMG investigative report on the dealings between SML and the GRA. Mr President, why are you hiding that report? That report was conducted and put together by KPMG after their investigation at the expense of the Ghanaian taxpayer,” Gyamfi said.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in 2023 assigned Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) to oversee and audit Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector, upstream petroleum production, and minerals and metals resources value chain.
The contract, spanning five years, aimed to utilize SML’s capabilities for monitoring the downstream petroleum sector and providing real-time data reconciliation. However, scrutiny from policy think tanks like IMANI & ACEP and investigative reporting by the Fourth Estate raised concerns about discrepancies in the award of the contract to SML leading to a request for an audit from the President.
