An aide to the former Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu, is of the firm belief that there is no shady business going on between the government and Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML).
An international audit and accounting firm, KPMG, has been appointed to audit contract between the Finance Ministry and SML, following revelations by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni about false claims made by SML regarding an earlier contract for revenue assurance in the downstream petroleum sector.
The SML contract entitled the company to over $100 million annually for a five-year period, with the possibility of renewal for another five years.
Despite admissions by GRA officials in the investigative documentary that they do not use SML’s figures to calculate taxes and revenue, GRA claimed that SML’s operation had resulted in a significant increase in volumes.
However, the Africa Centre for Energy Policy and IMANI Africa countered the GRA’s claim, stating that the available data on the Ministry of Finance’s website for statutory reporting under the Energy Sector Recovery Act (ESLA) and on the National Petroleum Authority’s (NPA) website did not support the GRA’s assertion of significant revenue increment.
In reaction to the ongoing controversy, Charles Owusu vouched for SML, arguing that it has engaged in activities that have profited the country.
“The SML contract is all about working for government but you will only be paid based on the work you do. I don’t see what corruption issue there is. GRA has come to show the effects of work of SML which has profited the country.
“Presently, if you get fuel from the depot, with the introduction of SML, the government will get hold of its revenue. You can never run away with it because they have set their meters on all the depots in Ghana and are monitoring in their offices.”
In an interview on Peace FM, he further noted that “One thing I even like is the fact that they are able to monitor even at night. They have stopped certain individuals. When you try to temper with it, their alarm blows at their office and this allows GRA officers to arrive at the scene to arrest the individuals. It has happened before.”
According to the Africa Centre for Energy Policy and IMANI Africa, “In the year SML commenced operations (2019/2020), GRA’s data indicates a 5% growth in refined petroleum product consumption relative to the previous year (19.38 million litres). In the same period, the NPA reports a 7% growth (24.71 million litres) in product consumption. In the subsequent year (2020/2021), both GRA and NPA data align, indicating an 11% and 10% growth in product consumption, respectively.”
They added: “The actual growth between 2018/2019 and 2020/2021 was about 62.95 million from NPA data and 60.15 million from the GRA Data. In the 2021/2022 year, the total consumption of refined products in the country declined by 5% and 7% according to NPA and GRA respectively.”
SML had also stated on its website that its operations had stopped “under-reporting, diversion and dilution of fuel products and general non-compliance in the petroleum industry sector.”
When The Fourth Estate team pointed out that services preventing anomalies were performed by other companies contracted by the NPA, SML management admitted the claim was false and promptly deleted it from the company’s website on the same day.
Despite this, in June 2023, the Ministry of Finance instructed the GRA to expand the scope of SML Ghana’s work.
A Ministry of Finance letter said the “Honourable Minister [Ken Ofori-Atta] has determined that there is the need to monitor the production and shipment of oil and gold out of the country.
“To this end, he will like to expand the Revenue Assurance work being performed by SML to include upstream oil drilling by the production companies and the gold mining companies,” the letter, dated June 22, 2023, said.
Due to the controversy, the SML contract, awarded by the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has been suspended by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Meanwhile, Charles Owusu believes that “the company and the government will be exonerated” at the end of investigations.