OSP, National Security disrupt SML’s real-time monitoring system
Operatives said to be from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and National Security on Tuesday raided the Osu and Tema offices of Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited (SML), escalating a bitter dispute over revenue collection in Ghana’s petroleum sector that industry sources claim is being orchestrated by entrenched oil cartels.
The raids, ostensibly conducted over SML’s contract with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), come amid mounting allegations that powerful petroleum industry players and oil cartels are driving a sustained campaign to dismantle oversight systems that have cost them billions in previously unreported revenue.
During the raid on Monday, the operatives reportedly dismantled the real-time monitoring system including monitors, servers, computers and other critical tech components.
“They literally destroyed the entire monitoring system which will significantly impact the operations of Customs Division of the GRA. I was told a call came from Customs to not touch the main monitoring system, but they still went ahead to destroy everything. This system is for Customs,” a source on the grounds mentioned, according to a report by the BFTonline.
Other sources close to the matter suggest the timing of the raid is no coincidence, following months of intensified pressure on SML despite institutional backing from both government auditors and parliamentary committees.
“This appears to be the culmination of a coordinated effort by vested interests including oil cartels who have been threatened by the transparency SML’s systems have brought to the sector,” one industry insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, said according to the Bftonline report.
The’ OSP has been in active engagement with SML since March 2025. Correspondence between SML and the OSP shows that SML has been cooperating with the Special Prosecutor and has provided information based on requests from the OSP.
SML’s revenue assurance platform has transformed reporting in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector.
Before the company’s engagement, monthly reported fuel volumes averaged just 208 million litres—far below actual market activity.
Since 2020 and at the height of COVID-19 pandemic, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has consistently achieved its revenue targets from the petroleum sector due mainly from the revenue assurance system deployed by SML.
Despite a comprehensive 306-page KPMG audit commissioned by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2024 finding no evidence of financial misconduct, and public endorsements from both the GRA and Parliament’s Energy Committee, opposition to SML has intensified rather than subsided.
The Energy Committee in the previous parliament, chaired by Samuel Atta Akyea, specifically noted that SML’s systems had disrupted a “well-entrenched network” of illicit actors and cartels in the petroleum sector. The GRA has similarly credited SML’s systems with significantly improving revenue assurance.
However, sources familiar with the petroleum industry suggest these institutional endorsements have only strengthened resolve among the oil cartels and those seeking to undermine the revenue monitoring system.
SML has responded with a GH¢21 million defamation lawsuit, maintaining that attacks on its credibility serve interests that profited from previous tax leakages. Industry analysts suggest yesterday’s raid represents a critical juncture for Ghana’s revenue assurance efforts.
credit: thebftonline.com