The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Monday, 29th April 2024, conducted a press conference to address the issues surrounding the SML deal and the released investigative report done by KPMG on the deal.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, NDC’s Communicator, after a careful study of the Fourth Estate’s report and the published portions of the KPMG report on the SML deal, the party deems it necessary to highlight unquestionable facts that are worth interrogating.
Mr. Gyamfi noted that SML was incorporated on 14th February 2017, barely thirty-seven (37) days after the NPP assumed the reins of power on 7th January 2017.
Also, the NDC Communicator stated that the stated capital of the company is GH¢10,000 and the paid-up shares of the company are GH¢10,000.
Moreover, he revealed that the company’s shareholder and Chief Executive Officer is Mr. Evans Adusei who owns and runs Evans Timbers Limited.
“Barely four (4) months after the incorporation of SML, the corrupt Akufo-Addo-Bawumia NPP government, acting through the Ghana Revenue Authority, sought to engage SML to provide transaction audit services at the port through sole sourcing”.
Sammy Gyamfi
He also alleged that between June 2017 and September 2017, the GRA made three (3) requests to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) for approval to engage SML through sole sourcing. He noted, however, that the PPA refused all these three (3) requests.
Mr. Gyamfi further indicated that the government started its engagement with the SML at a time when SML, an offshoot of a Timber company, had no prior experience in revenue assurance or transaction auditing.
He emphasized that GRA’s requests for approval to engage SML through sole sourcing were refused by the PPA because the requests did not meet the mandatory requirements of section 40 of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (ACT 663).
As such, the NDC Communicator noted that GRA’s determination to involve SML through sole sourcing, engaged SML through the back door as a sub-contractor of West Blue with the support of the Ken Ofori Atta-led Finance Ministry. “West Blue was already providing transaction audit services for the State at the port”, he added.
He also revealed that SML was made to take over the transaction audit services of West Blue in December 2018 when the latter was kicked out.
He stated that the GRA subsequently added external price verification and a downstream petroleum audit agreement to the contracted services of SML, emphasizing that to date, the GRA remains the only customer of SML.
“It is interesting to note, that the Managing Director of SML, Christian Tetteh Sottie was the Technical Advisor to the Commissioner-General of the GRA, who left his job at the GRA to manage SML, as soon as the company commenced the implementation of its contract with the GRA in the year 2020. This fact raises serious issues of potential insider trading which are worth probing”.
Sammy Gyamfi
SML Deal Violates Procurement Law
Furthermore, Sammy Gyamfi alleged that all transactions (2018-2019) between the government, and SML were done in violation of the Public Procurement law, the GRA Act, and the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA).
He stated that the agreements did not go through the mandatorily required procurement process, asserting that they were neither approved by the board of the GRA, and Parliament. “The agreements are therefore illegal, null, void, and of no legal effect whatsoever”, he added.
However, the NDC Communicator indicated that the government paid a staggering GH¢1,061,054,778 to SML under these illegal contracts from the taxes “of suffering Ghanaians”.
He also noted that both the Fourth Estate and KPMG have established that no needs assessment or value for money assessment was done before these illegal contracts were signed. “Clearly, some people simply sat down and designed this sleazy scheme”, he added.
More so, Sammy Gyamfi indicated that the finding by KPMG that SML was not able to provide any supporting documentation and relevant information to substantiate the investments SML claimed to have made, is strange.
He argued that the state did not derive the full benefits of payments it made to SML as the KPMG report indicated that SML partially delivered on its transaction audit and price verification services.
He also emphasized that the deal that was offered by SML was duplicitous, as Ghana’s existing Integrated Ghana Customs Management System (ICUMS) already has inbuilt capabilities of external price verification.
Moreover, the NDC Communicator indicated the downstream petroleum audit agreement has been found by the Fourth Estate to be duplicitous, as measures have already been introduced by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), to curtail revenue losses in the downstream petroleum sector.
“Again, it has been established by the Fourth Estate, that the Ghana Revenue Authority and the National Petroleum Authority do not use SML’s data for revenue collection in the downstream petroleum sector. This calls into question the relevance of the illegal downstream petroleum audit agreement of SML and the outrageous payments made under same”.
Sammy Gyamfi
More so, he noted that the public has yet to be shown any evidence, that SML has detected any case of under-declaration or diversion since it started executing its downstream petroleum audit agreement.
As such, he argued that claims by SML that its services have stopped malfeasance in the downstream petroleum sector and saved the country revenue to the tune of GH₵3 billion have been established to be false.
Conclusively, Mr. Sammy Gyamfi stated that there is no concrete evidence that shows that the recorded volume and tax revenue increases in the downstream petroleum sector, are wholly or partly correlated to the work of SML.
He emphasized that the refusal of the government to publish the full KPMG investigative report on the matter and its decision to allow SML to continue performing its illegal downstream petroleum audit services reaffirms the government’s ploy to cover up the “sleazy” SML scheme.
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