By The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has urged the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to promptly take action to recover all funds disbursed to the petroleum revenue assurance firm, Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).
On January 2, 2024, President Akufo-Addo instructed KPMG to conduct an audit of the contract between the two entities.
Following the submission of the audit report, a press statement from the Presidency on April 24 revealed that total fees paid under the contracts from 2018 to the date of suspension amount to over one billion Ghana cedis, a claim SML denied.
Speaking at the Moment of Truth series in Accra on Monday, April 29, Sammy Gyamfi, National Communication Officer of the NDC, demanded the immediate publication of the full KPMG investigative report on the SML matter.
The NDC’s demands are based on suspicions that there is more to the report than what has been released by the Presidency.
The party argues that the government’s decision to allow SML to continue its activities under contracts which did not receive initial approval from the Public Procurement Authority, the GRA board, and Parliament, in line with the Public Financial Management Act, confirms the government’s attempt to cover up this “damning and sleazy SML scheme.”
KPMG’s investigations revealed that the agreements between the government and SML concerning transaction audit, external price verification, and downstream petroleum audit contracts lacked various mandatory approvals.
The NDC contends that this renders payments totaling GH¢1,061,054,778 to SML unlawful and illegal.
The party condemns what it perceives as “a well-established practice of rampant corruption, sordid cover-ups, and the culture of impunity” since the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government took office seven years ago.
The NDC demands “the immediate termination of ALL the illegal contracts entered into between SML and the GRA, the retrieval of all payments made by the government to SML under the illegal agreements which have resulted in a significant financial loss to the State.”
“The immediate publication of the full KPMG investigative report on the dealings between SML and the GRA and; the prosecution of all persons involved in the award of illegal contracts and the illegal payments thereof, to SML.”
The NDC pledged to pursue criminal prosecutions against all individuals implicated in the SML scandal upon assuming office in January 2025. The party vowed to ensure accountability for those responsible for violations of Ghanaian laws, including the Public Procurement Act.
