The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., has said that the scandal involving the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) is the highest of all the scandals reported under the current government.
He described it in the words of Saddam Hussein as the mother of all scandals in the past six to seven years.
This comes in after an investigation piece by an Accra-based media house titled, ‘The GH¢ 3 Billion Lie’, accused the Ministry of Finance of awarding a $100 million contract to SML to monitor Upstream Petroleum Production and to Audit the value chain of Minerals and Metals Resources.
Both the GRA and SML have come out to justify the agreements that bind the two entities.
The GRA stated that SML has helped them increase revenue in the downstream petroleum sector from 350 million litres per month in 2018 and 2019, to 450 million litres per month from 2020/2021.
SML on the other hand explained that they operate under a “risk-reward contract,” and that GRA does not bear any financial commitment in the investment chain, and SML is not exempt from duties and taxes.
Kwesi Pratt reacting to the matter in an interview said no other scandal ever recorded over the years can beat
the scandal.
“So, many scandals have come up over the last seven years but I think that to quote Saddam Hussein, this is the mother of all scandals. Which other one can beat this one?” he questioned in an interview on Metro TV on December 20, 2023.
Pratt raised concerns about the alleged conflict of interest involving the managing director of SML, who was formerly a technical advisor to the GRA commissioner.
He pointed out the unusual timing of the resignation and subsequent appointment at SML.
To him, this is an interesting development.
“The third very strange development in this case is the guy who now serves as managing director of this company which provides GRA and Ghana with revenue assurance, himself is an employee of GRA, a technical advisor to the GRA commissioner and he might have played a role in negotiating this agreement.
“As soon as this agreement is signed, he resigns to become managing director of the SML company, an interesting development,” he said.
“…When you look at these things, you sometimes wonder if these are the managers in the Ghanaian economy. If indeed these are the managers in the Ghanaian economy, is there any wonder that we are where we are today?,” he asked.
ghanaweb.com