GRA needs to justify why SML still needs to operate – Patrick Ofori

Dr Patrick Ofori, the CEO of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, has asked the Ghana Revenue Authority to justify why it directed the Strategic Mobilisation Authority (SML) to resume its work in the downstream petroleum sector.

This call by Dr Ofori is on the back of a directive by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) that Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML), resumes its monitoring operations in the downstream petroleum sector effective June 14, 2024.

In a statement to SML, the revenue authority noted that the directive is in accordance with President Akufo-Addo’s directives on the KPMG report.

Dr Ofori, in an interview on Eyewitness News on Friday, June 21, noted that the revenue authority must provide data to justify why SML should continue to operate in its current form or be integrated into existing monitoring mechanisms such as the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS).

“Assuming GRA through their ICUMS or the data that they’ve collected comes out and also lets us know that during the period that the SML transaction was suspended, this was the leakage or the revenue losses that we were expecting that the nation didn’t get.

“That at least gives a strong baseline for which we can make some form of comparison and build a strong case as to why SML should continue in this form or SML should be integrated into the existing ERDMS and ICUMS systems that we already have,” Dr Ofori said.