NDC demands termination of GRA-SML contract

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has demanded an immediate termination of all contracts signed between Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). 

Addressing a press conference in Accra last Monday, Communication officer of the biggest opposition party, Sammy Gyamfi, said the contracts between GRA and SML including transaction, audit report, external price verification agreement and their downstream petroleum agreement had been proven illegal, hence the demand for the immediate termination of same.

He also demanded that government retrieves all payments made to SML under the illegal agreement which occasioned an over GH¢ 1 billion financial loss to the state. Mr Gyamfi also called on the presidency to immediately publish the full KPMG investigative report on the dealings between SML and the GRA instead of coming out with portions of it.

Again, he called on the government to arrest and prosecute all persons involved in the award of the contracts and the alleged illegal payments to SML, a Ghanaian revenue assurance company.

Mr Gyamfi stated that the contract between GRA and SML violated section 40 of the Public Procurement Authority Act, 2003 (Act 663) which was against sole sourcing. He added that the said agreement also violated the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA), and had also not been approved by Parliament as required by section 33 of the PFMA.

The illegality, he said, caused the state GH¢1.06 billion as payment to SML since 2017.

NDC's position

Mr Gyamfi said the NDC, if voted into power, would not recognise the illegal contracts between the government and SML, adding that it would also "launch credible and transparent investigation into the scandal with the aim of retrieving all illegal payments made to SML and ensuring prosecution of all persons who are complicit in these illegal transactions".

He added that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) trumpeted that sole-sourcing was tantamount to corruption while in opposition and prosecuted over 70 persons, including the former Electoral Commission Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, on grounds of alleged procurement breaches, but has failed to do same while in office for persons in its government.

Mr Gyamfi urged the NPP government to desist from the double standard and prosecute members of the government who have breached same laws for which others were prosecuted and removed from office. 

Commitment

The Communication Director of the NDC said his party was committed to promoting transparency, accountability and value for money in all government procurement and, therefore, would go the extra mile to hold accountable "anyone who participated in the plunder of the State" as indicated by the party's running mate, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, last week during her official unveiling.

He called on Ghanaians to vote massively for the NDC in the December polls to take over the reins of power to tackle the several corruption cases that have engulfed the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led administration since 2017. 

Background

On January 2, this year, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo appointed KPMG to conduct an immediate audit into the transaction between the GRA and SML following a media report that the deal was shady and milked the state.

After the receipt of the report, the President directed that given audit and advisory firm’s recommendation that there was a clear need for the downstream petroleum audit services provided by SML, the downstream petroleum audit services provided by Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML) could continue due to the savings it has made to the state.

However, the President also directed that the contract should be reviewed to reflect some changes, particularly the fee structure from variable to fixed, with other provisions of the contract, including clauses on intellectual property rights, termination and service delivery expectations, also reviewed.