The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has stated that there is no justification for the government to have paid Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) GHC1 billion as the contract fee.
He wondered why the government would go into contract with a company to generate GHC2.4 billion in revenue and pay the company GHC1 billion, stressing that such an arrangement would never take place anywhere in the world.
Addressing the media at the party’s headquarters in Accra, dubbed ‘Moment of Truth Series’ on Monday, April 29, the NDC communicator criticises the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government for supervising what he described as a “stinky SML deal.”
Also, Mr. Gyamfi disagreed with the government’s assertion that SML raked in over 2.4 billion cedis for the state, stating that the government had already imposed taxes on petroleum products, which accounted for the increase in petroleum revenue.
“That revenue which has accrued to the state is a total of GHC 2.4 billion, which we way it is not attributable to SML but attributable to the increase in petroleum consumption and the prices of petro.
“Let’s assume it is attributable to SML, so a company comes to help you to collect 2.4 billion [cedis] and you dash the company 1 billion [cedis]? Does this make sense? In which serious country can this happen?” he quizzed.
“Is there any company in the world that collects such an outrageous fee? So clearly, the justification being mounted by the government is patently flawed on the basis of the presidency’s publication itself,” said Sammy Gyamfi.
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According to KPMG’s audit findings on the contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML, a total of GHC1.06 billion has been paid in fees to SML between 2018 and January 2, 2024, when President Akufo-Addo suspended the deal.
The KPMG’s report also revealed that the GRA/SML deal did not have parliamentary approval as required under Section 33 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016.
Meanwhile, SML has denied that it was compensated to the tune of GHC1,061,054,778.00 for its revenue mobilisation contract with the GRA.
The company said, “SML finds that KPMG’s failure to state GRA taxes of 31.5% taken before payment, interest payments of 32% plus the investment repayment made by SML, and other taxes/duties over the period creates a very unbalanced impression of the relationship between the compensation and the investment and other related costs. This omission is highly misleading.”
In a press statement issued Thursday, April 25, SML reaffirmed its commitment to contributing to Ghana’s development by adhering to ethically acceptable standards and maintaining the quality of its work.
