President Akufo-Addo has ordered the immediate suspension of the revenue assurance contract signed between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilization Ghana Ltd (SML).
The president has also directed an audit firm, KPMG, to investigate the services SML renders to the GRA and submit its report in two weeks.
According to a statement signed by the communication’s director at the presidency, Eugene Arhin, President Akufo-Addo “also directed the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority to suspend the performance contract pending the submission of the audit report, including any payments presently envisaged under its terms.”
KPMG has also been directed to “assess the appropriateness of the contract methodology, verifying compliance with legal standards and industry practices in the procurement process for the selection of SML.”
The president also tasked KPMG to, among others “evaluate the value benefit that SML has so far offered to the GRA through this engagement.”
Akufo-Addo's intervention comes after, various organisations, including Ghana's legislature, have questioned the contract, the GRA awarded to SML in 2019 to undertake revenue assurances services, claiming that it was riddled with flaws in its execution.
The agreement between the two entities was to boost revenue assurances in the downstream petroleum sector, upstream petroleum production, and the value chain for minerals and metals resources.
