Sulemana Braimah, the Executive Director of the Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA), has voiced his deep disappointment and concern over President Akufo-Addo’s decision to withhold the complete KPMG report.
He noted that the President’s decision to withhold the report despite having utilized the Right to Information Act to obtain the documents is a move that brazenly undermines the spirit of transparency and accountability that the law intends to uphold.
As such, he indicated that the President’s refusal to disclose the full KPMG report constitutes a blatant violation of Section 5 of the Right to Information (RTI) law, which guarantees citizens access to information and stipulates that public officials shall prioritize transparency and disclosure.
“Of course, we are mindful that when the report is submitted to the President until the President has gone through whatever deliberative process he wants to engage in on the report, he will be exempt and so we waited… Until the President himself demonstrated that as far as the KPMG report is concerned he is done with it”.
Sulemana Braimah
As such he debunked the President’s claim that he is still deliberating on the report’s findings, labeling it as a baseless excuse.
He pointed out that the President had previously stated that he had thoroughly reviewed the report and accepted KPMG’s recommendations regarding the GRA-SML deal, making his current assertion of ongoing deliberation untenable and contradictory.
“The question here is what is the President hiding from the people? What is the difficulty in communicating the essentials of the report to us when you’ve made your decisions and given directives?” – Sulemana Braimah
Moreover, the RTI Act provides a recourse for individuals who are dissatisfied with the initial decision of the information holder, and Sulemana Braimah emphasized that he will exhaust all legal avenues to challenge the President’s refusal to disclose the report.
He reiterated his commitment to upholding the rights of Ghanaians, stating that he would pursue the matter further through the legal channels provided by the Act, to ensure that the public’s right to information is protected and the President’s lack of transparency is held accountable.
He accused the President of misusing the exemption clause of the RTI Act, distorting its intent to unjustifiably withhold the KPMG report from the public which constitutes a clear abuse of power
Presidency Withholds KPMG Report
Meanwhile, the Office of the President has declined the request from the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to disclose the full KPMG report on the revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML).
The MFWA had invoked section 18 of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) to request a copy of the comprehensive KPMG Audit Report, which was commissioned by the President.
However, the Presidency declined the request, noting that the complete KPMG Audit Report contains opinions, advice, deliberations, and recommendations that are crucial to the President’s deliberative process and hence qualify as exempt information under section 5 (1) (a) and (b) (i) of the RTI Act.
Furthermore, the President’s Office stated that while understanding the public interest in the GRA-SML contract, the principal findings and recommendations of the KPMG report have been published in a detailed press statement.
This, the statement said, ensures that the public remains informed while respecting the statutory restrictions on specific disclosures.
The Presidency’s decision to withhold the comprehensive KPMG report has sparked outrage and concern among media outlets and civil society organizations, who contend that transparency and accountability are essential in high-stakes contracts like the GRA-SML deal.
The argument over the balance between the public’s right to information and the confidentiality of the President’s deliberative process is likely to continue.
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