North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has alleged that Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has been aided to flee the country following the announcement of an audit into Authority’s revenue assurance contract with Strategic Mobilization Ltd (SML).
According to him, he absconded with his wife and children using his ordinary passport to São Tomé and Príncipe with the help of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and is never returning.
In a write-up on his social media pages on Wednesday, January 10, the legislator gave details of his allegations demanding an explanation from the President for the turn of events after ordering an audit into the contract.
“My unimpeachable and irrefutable tracking of Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Adu Owusu-Amoah reveals that on January 3, 2024, he led his family to swiftly and clandestinely leave the jurisdiction. Exactly a week ago, the entire Owusu-Amoah family departed at 17:10 on TAP Air Portugal, flight TP 1527 from KIA-Terminal 3.”
“Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Adu Owusu-Amoah used an ordinary Ghanaian passport issued on June 14, 2019, with its last four digits being 5283. Interestingly, the runaway GRA boss did not travel with his Service Passport with 2702 as its last four digits. A Service Passport which was issued to him as GRA Commissioner-General on October 3, 2019. This development adds another layer of confirmation that Rev. Dr. Owusu-Amoah has not embarked on an official trip.”
He, therefore, asserted that the seeming concern of the President over the contract is a “sham”.
Meanwhile, he indicated that a Parliamentary inquiry will be instituted into the contract.
Background
President Akufo-Addo on January 2 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.