The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has submitted a Right to Information (RTI) application to the Presidency, requesting the full KPMG audit report on the revenue mobilisation agreement between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML).
KPMG, the auditing firm, has completed and presented its report on the GRA-SML contract to President Akufo-Addo.
The President commissioned KPMG to audit the contract between the two organizations on January 2, 2024. The audit deadline was extended from the original date of January 16, 2024, to February 23, 2024.
The audit revealed that SML had received a total of GH¢1,061,054,778.00 from 2018 to date while partially fulfilling its obligations. However, the report indicated that SML’s work had increased revenue in the downstream petroleum sector.
SML has disputed the claim that it received GH¢1,061,054,778.00 for its revenue mobilisation contract with the GRA, arguing that KPMG cited the figure “without reference to the investments made and the taxes paid” during the review period.
Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of MFWA, stated that the foundation had filed an RTI request with the presidency for the complete KPMG Audit Report. He expressed hope that the president would comply with the law and release the report.
“Yesterday, we submitted a formal RTI Request to the Office of the President for a copy of the full KPMG Audit Report. We hope that the President will respect the law and release the report to us,” he stated.
Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has questioned President Akufo-Addo’s remarks regarding the KPMG audit report on the revenue mobilisation deal between the GRA and SML.
In an opinion piece, Simons suggested that it would be beneficial for the President to acknowledge the irregularities in the awarding of the SML contracts, particularly in light of the observations made in the Presidency’s press statement about the audit.
Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, has also dismissed the KPMG report on the GRA-SML contract as a ‘whitewash’.
He argued that the auditing firm’s close relationship with the GRA compromises its ability to conduct an unbiased and objective evaluation.
In an interview on Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Kpebu indicated that KPMG’s ties with the GRA suggest a conflict of interest.
“This KPMG report is not up to scratch, it’s just a whitewash. they haven’t done any good job at all…from day one, the writing was on the wall that KPMG was not up to the task because they couldn’t be independent enough. They have relations with GRA” he stated.