Former Tamale Central MP, Inusah Fuseini, has criticized the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for not conducting a corruption risk assessment into the SML/GRA contract.
Mr Fuseini believes that the OSP should have promptly released a report on the matter immediately after The Fourth Estate documentary was aired.
He suggests that there are indications of corruption and conflicts of interest in the deal, which the OSP should investigate. He also added that there was a clear intention to hide the contract from the public.
In an interview on JoyNews’ Newsfile program on Saturday, April 27, Mr Fuseini emphasized that Ghanaians will not tolerate any misuse of the state purse.
“It’s very obvious that there was a clear intention to keep the contract out of the public view and so this is where I support the civil society that such a matter must have an open, transparent, rigorous and meritocratic evaluation of the contract and the outcomes the matters.
“Immediately the report came out, the OSP should have conducted a corruption risk assessment and released a report by now,” he said.
KPMG, a reputable auditing firm, has completed and submitted its report on the contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) to President Akufo-Addo.
The audit, initiated by the President on January 2, 2024, following an exposé by the Fourth Estate, was originally scheduled to be completed by January 16, 2024. However, the deadline was extended to February 23, 2024, due to certain circumstances.
According to the audit findings, SML has received a total of GH¢1,061,054,778 since 2018 while only partially fulfilling its obligations under the contract.
However, SML has challenged this finding, asserting that the report as a whole justifies the contract.