The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has filed a Right to Information (RTI) request demanding the full report of KPMG’s audit into the contract between Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The request filed on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, was signed by MFWA Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah.
“This request is made by my rights as outlined in Article 21(1)(f) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and Section 18 of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).
“The request is specifically for “a copy of the full KPMG Audit Report on the revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) as commissioned by His Excellency the President and which report formed the basis of the recent directives by the President on the said contract,” it read in parts.
This follows a statement by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, which communicated President Akufo-Addo’s decision on the report.
President Akufo-Addo directed KPMG to audit the revenue assurance contract in January 2024, following an exposé by The Fourth Estate.
The KPMG audit report revealed that despite disapproval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), the GRA went ahead to sign a contract with SML.
“On three occasions, the GRA sought approval from PPA to use the single source procurement method to engage SML to provide transaction audit services. PPA did not grant approval,” the presidency said in a statement on April 24, 2024, almost four months after The Fourth Estate’s expose.
According to section 33 of the Public Financial Management Act 2016, Act 921, multiyear contracts such as SML’s “must have ministerial and parliamentary approval.”
Despite this legal requirement, the statement from the office of the President stated that the GRA did not receive parliamentary approval for any of the contracts signed in 2018, 2019 and 2023 nor did it have any approval from its Board for the contracts, contrary to the GRA act.
Meanwhile, Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons has questioned the President’s comments on the report amidst a demand for the full report.
Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has also described the report as a whitewash, citing issues of conflict of interest due to a relationship between the audit firm and GRA.
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