{Full Report}: Presidency Releases Report of KPMG on SML Deal
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has finally given the greenlight for the publication of KPMG audit report on the revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML).
It comes two months after the report was submitted to the President.
The Presidency in a statement highlighted that the decision to cause the publication of the full report is to ensure transparency, openness, and honesty with the public.
This is in spite of earlier stance against the report’s publication by the President.
Background
The GRA has awarded three contracts to SML since 2019 to detect invoice fraud, fight under-declaration of fuel volumes and, by extension, taxes collected by the fuel marketers from consumers on behalf of the government and then an expansion to minerals exported by Ghana.
The contacts are reported to have been awarded through sole sourcing.
According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) who first brought this to the attention of the public, investigations revealed SML is not tackling any of the problems and malfeasance that was identified in causing leakages in the sector.
It also established that SML by the contract will be paid US$100 million by the government of Ghana for the “revenue assurance” it provides.
The GRA in a statement in December 2023 denied SML was being paid for no work done.
“The work of SML over the period has led to a significant increase in the figures reported in the downstream petroleum sector, from an average of 350 million litres per month in 2018 and 2019, to 450 million litres per month from 2020/2021.
“This represents over a thirty- three per cent (33%) increase in volume reporting and an average of an extra 100 million litres per month at a levy rate of GHS1.44p. The extra revenue variance gained for the two (2) years will exceed GHS3 billion. This performance is attributable mainly to the introduction of ICUMS and SML systems.”
Read the Full report Here: Investigation Report-Audit-RevenueAssuranceContractsTransactionsbetween GRA-SML
