GRA-SML contract: MFWA files RTI request demanding KPMG report

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has submitted a Right to Information (RTI) application to the Presidency, seeking the full KPMG audit report on the revenue mobilisation agreement between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML).

KPMG, an auditing firm, has finalised and presented its report on the GRA-SML contract to President Akufo-Addo.

The President commissioned KPMG to audit the contract between the two organisations on January 2, 2024. The deadline for the audit’s completion was extended from the original date of Tuesday, January 16, 2024, to Friday, February 23, 2024.

The audit disclosed that SML had received a total of GH¢1,061,054,778.00 from 2018 to date while partially fulfilling its obligations. The report, however, revealed that the work of SML had increased revenue in the downstream petroleum sector.

SML has refuted 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.

In a post on Thursday, Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of MFWA, emphasised that the foundation had lodged 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 to them.

“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.

Meanwhile, Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has questioned President Akufo-Addo’s comments on the KPMG audit report of the revenue mobilisation deal between the GRA and SML.

In an opinion piece, Mr Simons suggested that it would be advantageous 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 symbiotic 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, Mr Kpebu indicated that KPMG’s close 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.

—CitiNewsroom