Investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni has stated that the Ministry of Finance failed to conduct a value-for-money audit in the controversial contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).
According to him, the Ministry, which was headed by former Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in 2023, had determined that the services of SML should be extended to the mining and oil production sectors.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, May 25, Mr Awuni said various stakeholders were not consulted.
“So if you failed to conduct that audit, on what basis did Ken Ofori-Atta make this determination?
“We wrote to the Minerals Commission and the commission said they knew nothing about it, they were not consulted. We wrote to the Petroleum Commission, and they knew nothing about it either.”
He reiterated that the regulators in the sectors were unaware of the decision, stressing that there was no basis for the former Finance Minister to commit Ghana to a contract worth over one hundred million dollars a year with this company.
He further stated that there was no justification for the government to have paid SML, as they did not contribute to the growth in volumes.
“SML recorded the least. … and before this report, we asked GRA officials, and they confirmed all of these in our documentaries, so the question is, why were they paid? There’s absolutely no justification for why the Republic of Ghana should have paid a pesewa to this company,” he said.
Mr Azure added that, the government has a strong judgment debt case against those who received money for no work done.