Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), allegedly an extension of a timber company, is facing scrutiny over a GH₵ 3 billion contract from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for “revenue assurance” services in the downstream petroleum sector.
The Fourth Estate’s investigative report reveals that SML, despite lacking experience, was “handpicked for the contract through the single-source procurement method.”
“In 2019, when the GRA entered into an agreement with SML Ghana, Mr. Sottie was the Technical Advisor to the Commissioner General of the GRA. Mr. Sottie left his job as the Technical Advisor to the GRA Commissioner General in the same year to manage SML Ghana in 2020 when the company started implementing its contract with the GRA. The GRA has been the only customer of SML Ghana since its establishment, according to Mr. Sottie. This means at the time the company was handpicked for the contract through the single-source procurement method, it had no prior experience in the services it claimed to have expertise,” the report stated.
When questioned about SML’s history, Managing Director Christian Tetteh Sottie disclosed only that it was “an offshoot of a timber company” but reportedly refused to name the timber company.
Further investigation by The Fourth Estate revealed through online records that the timber company linked to SML is Evans Timbers Limited. Apparently, the CEO of SML, Evans Adusei, is also the CEO of Evans Timbers GH. Evans Adusei is the sole shareholder of SML, with Evans Adusei and his daughter, Esther Adusei, serving as directors. SML’s principal activities include general trading and services, import and export of general goods, and audit service activities.
It’s worth noting that Christian Tetteh Sottie, the current Managing Director of SML, was a Technical Advisor to the Commissioner General of the GRA in 2019 when the GRA entered into an agreement with SML. He later transitioned to managing SML in 2020 when the company began implementing its contract with the GRA.
With the GRA as the sole customer of SML Ghana since its establishment, concerns arise about the company’s qualifications for the contract.
The company allegedly falsely claimed on its website to address issues such as under-reporting, diversion, and dilution of fuel products, prompting skepticism from officials at the Petroleum Division of the GRA.
However, during The Fourth Estate’s investigation, Christian Sottie reportedly clarified that SML did not engage in checking underreporting or anomalies in the downstream sector, contradicting its website claims. The sudden disappearance of these claims from the company’s website further deepens the mystery surrounding SML’s operations.