Jubilee House Confirms Receipt of SML Audit Report
The Director of Communications at the Jubilee House, Eugene Arhin has confirmed receipt of the audit report by KPMG over the revenue assurance contract between Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
In a Facebook post, Mr Arhin said the President received the report on March 27 and has since initiated a study into the findings.
According to him, the decision of the President will be made public after his perusal.
“The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, 27th March 2024, received from KPMG its report on the audit conducted, at the behest of the President, on the transactions between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML). President Akufo-Addo is studying the findings of the audit report, and will, in due course, make his decisions known to the Ghanaian people.”
It comes after Political Science Lecturer Prof Ransford Gyampo called out the President for “sitting” on the report in an open letter.
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 the 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.”
On January 2, president Akufo-Addo appointed KPMG to audit the contracts and subsequently directed the Ministry of Finance and GRA to suspend the performance of the contracts, pending the submission of the audit report, including any payments presently envisaged under their terms.
Source: opemsuo.com /Hajara Fuseini
