By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has submitted a Right to Information (RTI) application to the Presidency, seeking the full KPMG audit report on the revenue mobilisation agreement between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd. (SML).
KPMG, an auditing firm which was tasked by the president of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, to investigate a controversial deal between the GRA and SML, has finalised and presented its findings report on the GRA-SML contract to the man who engaged them.
The President commissioned KPMG to audit the contract between the two organisations on January 2, 2024.
The deadline for the audit’s completion was extended from the original date of Tuesday, January 16, 2024, to Friday, February 23, 2024.
The audit disclosed that SML had received a total of GH¢1,061,054,778.00 from 2018 to date while partially fulfilling its obligations.
The report, however, revealed that the work of SML had increased revenue in the downstream petroleum sector.
SML has refuted the claim that it received GH¢1,061,054,778.00 for its revenue mobilisation contract with the GRA, arguing that KPMG cited the figure “without reference to the investments made and the taxes paid” during the review period.
In a post on Thursday, April 25, 2024, Executive Director of MFWA, Mr. Sulemana Braimah, announced that the foundation had lodged an RTI request with the presidency for the complete KPMG Audit Report.
He expressed hope that the president would comply with the law and release the report to them.
“Yesterday, we submitted a formal RTI request to the Office of the President for a copy of the full KPMG Audit Report. We hope that the President will respect the law and release the report to us,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of IMANI Africa, Mr. Bright Simons, has also questioned President Akufo-Addo’s comments on the KPMG audit report of the revenue mobilisation deal between the GRA and SML.
In an opinion piece, Mr Simons suggested that it would be advantageous for the President to acknowledge the irregularities in the awarding of the SML contracts, particularly in light of the observations made in the Presidency’s press statement about the audit.
