NDC demands retrieval of monies paid to SML, calls for the prosecution of persons involved

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to take immediate steps to retrieve all monies paid to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), a privately-owned Ghanaian company, for no work done.

At a press conference addressed by its National Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, in Accra today [April 29, 2024] demanded the immediate publication of the full KPMG investigative report on the SML matter. The NDC’s demands are hinged on suspicions that there is no more to the report than what has been put out by the Presidency.

The party contended that government’s decision to allow SML to continue with its activities under contracts which did not receive initial approval from the Public Procurement Authority, the GRA board and Parliament in line with the Public Financial Management Act, is a confirmation that government is trying to coverup this damning and sleazy SML scheme. 

Sammy Gyamfi explained that the investigations by KPMG revealed that the agreements between government and SML relative to transaction audit, external price verification and downstream petroleum audit contracts, did not receive various mandatory approvals.

This, he pointed out, renders payments to SML, totalling GH¢1,061,054,778, unlawful and illegal. 

The NDC decried what it calls “a well-established practice of rampant corruption, sordid coverups and the culture of impunity”, since the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government assumed the reins of government seven years ago.

The party has thus outlined four main demands from government, including;

1.    the immediate termination of ALL the illegal contracts entered into between SML and the GRA; 

2.    the retrieval of ALL payments made by government to SML under the illegal agreements which have occasioned a huge financial loss to the State;

3.     the immediate publication of the full KPMG investigative report on the dealings between SML and the GRA and;

4.    the prosecution of all persons involved in the award of illegal contracts and the illegal payments thereof, to SML. 

Sammy Gyamfi indicated that the NDC when given power in this year's election, will pursue criminal prosecutions against all persons involved in the SML scandal when it comes into government in January 2025.

He said the party will hold certain people accountable for breaches of the laws of Ghana, including the Public Procurement Act.