Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has raised concerns over President Akufo-Addo's response to the audit report conducted by KPMG on the revenue mobilization transaction between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML).
In an opinion piece, Simons emphasized the importance of acknowledging infractions in awarding SML contracts, especially in light of observations made in the press statement released by the Presidency regarding the audit.
The statement recognized the necessity for significant assessment of the country's needs before awarding contracts for revenue assurance in the downstream fuel market, particularly regarding connections between wholesale depots and fuel retail outlets.
President Akufo-Addo endorsed the recommendation to discontinue upstream petroleum and minerals audit services previously provided to GRA by SML, as disclosed by the Presidency's Communications Director, Eugene Arhin, in a press statement on April 24.
The statement also revealed that SML was paid a total of GH¢1,061,054,778.00 from 2018 to date.
Simons highlighted the numerous infractions in the contract, insisting that the full report should be made public to address transparency and accountability concerns.