Rockson-Nelson Etsi Kwami Dafeamekpor, Member of Parliament for South Dayi, has said Parliament was being proactive for its involvement in the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) contract.
He says the Legislature took the initiative to probe the matter when the Executive, where the issued emanated, was quiet on it.
The lawmaker who is also a private legal practitioner holds that the President’s order therefore, for KPMG to conduct an audit into the contract was a duplication of duty.
His comments was in reaction to a statement from a former Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, that, it was unnecessary for Parliament to initiate probe into the matter since any audit by any institution, be it private or public, will end up in the bossom of the Legislature.
He has been telling TV3’s Alfred Ocansey on the KeyPoints Saturday, January 06, 2024, that the President rather gave his directive for reasons best known to him, even when Parliament had already taken that step.
“The ex Auditor-General has forgotten that at the time this matter engaged the attention of Parliament, no Executive directive had been given and it appears that the Executive was not paying attention to the issue even though the matter was erupting within the Executive.
“So, Parliament took the opportunity to be proactive. In fact it was pursuant to a motion filed by the Minority Leader supported by a couple of our colleagues.
“The motion was admitted by Speaker, moved, debated and adopted and the Finance Committee of Parliament was then directed to conduct an inquiry to the matter and submit a report.
“So, for the President to now direct KPMG to go into the matter amounts to a duplication of duty,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Domelevo, in his interview with TV3’s News Central described the entire call for the audit by KPMG as a waste of the public purse since state-owned institutions were available to conduct both investigations and audit to save the state some expenses.
READ ALSO: KPMG’s involvement in GRA-SML contract a waste of public funds – Domelevo tells Akufo-Addo
Background
A year-long investigation by Evans Aziamor-Mensah, Adwoa Adobea-Owusu and Manasseh Azure Awuni of The Fourth Estate, revealed that the company (SML), with the help of a section of Ghana’s media, had made false and unsubstantiated claims of its operations that have served as the basis for the payment it received.
The Fourth Estate asserted that, it appears the Ministry of Finance and the GRA were aware the claims were false, for some officials of the GRA said they had confronted the company about its claims of savings and volumes on two separate occasions.
A few hours after the reporters confronted the management of SML with the findings of the investigation and asked for a response, the major services it claimed to render to the government disappeared from the company’s website.
The investigation also uncovered that at a time players in the downstream petroleum sector were questioning the relevance of SML’s involvement, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, initiated a more outrageous deal that would entitle the company to over $100 million every year for the next 10 years.
A documentary released by the Fourth Estate showing these alleged corruption in the contract stirred a public conversation on the issue with Parliament indicating their intentions to commence a probe into it.
The GRA, also in a release debunked the Fourth Estate’s report, and corroborated what SML has said in its response to the contents of the documentary.
Following the back and forth and counter allegations from the respective quarters, President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, ordered an audit into the contract by KPMG.
“Accordingly, KPMG, an Audit, Tax and Advisory Services firm, has been appointed to conduct an audit into the transaction, which was entered into to enhance revenue assurance in the downstream petroleum sector, the upstream petroleum production and minerals and metals resources value chain,” a press release dated Tuesday, January 02, 2024 and signed by the Director of Communication at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, stated.
It added that the Terms of Reference of the audit are as follows: “i. conduct an audit to ascertain the rationale or needs assessment performed prior to the contract approval by GRA, and assess how the arrangement aligns with specific needs; ii. assess the appropriateness of the contracting methodology, verifying compliance with legal standards and industry best practices in the procurement process for the selection of SML;
iii. evaluate the degree of alignment between current activities and the stipulated contract scope, identifying any deviations; iv. evaluate the value or benefit that SML has so far offered to the GRA through this engagement; v. review the financial arrangements, including pricing structures, payment terms and resolution of any financial compliance issues; and vi. submit a report on your findings on the above, together with appropriate recommendations.”
The press release added that, “President Akufo-Addo has tasked KPMG to complete the assignment in two weeks.”
“The President has directed the Ministry of Finance and GRA to provide KPMG with whatever assistance they will require for conduct of the audit, and has also directed the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority to suspend the performance of the contract, pending the submission of the audit report, including any payments presently envisaged under its terms,” the statement concluded.
