SML has been paid GH¢1bn since 2018 – KPMG audit report

An audit conducted by KPMG into the revenue mobilisation transaction between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML) has revealed that the latter was paid a total of GH¢1,061,054,778.00 from 2018 to the date.

The disclosure was made in a press statement released by the Communications Director of the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, on Wednesday, April 24.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ordered KPMG to audit the contract between the two entities on January 2, 2024.

The period for the audit’s conclusion was extended on January 24, 2024 from the initial date of Tuesday, 16th January 2024, to a new date of Friday, 23rd February 2024.

Many Ghanaians had been calling on the president to make the findings of the report public when the deadline elapsed.

The Presidency’s April 24 press statement said “the total fees paid under the contracts from 2018 to the date of suspension amount to GH¢1,061,054,778.00. No fee has been paid for the upstream petroleum audit and minerals audit services.”

It added that “the total fees estimated to be paid to SML under the 2023 Contract for five years is GH¢5,173,091,857.00, which averages to about GH¢1 billion per year.”

Following a thorough review of the audit report, the president also endorsed the recommendation to discontinue the upstream petroleum and minerals audit services previously provided to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) by Strategic Management Limited (SML).

He also instructed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ministry of Finance to renegotiate the contract.