In a surprising turn of events, the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Rev. Dr Ammishaddai Adu Owusu-Amoah, left the country along with his entire family less than a week before the completion of the KPMG audit, ordered by President Akufo-Addo in response to the SML scandal.
The departure raises questions about the sincerity of the government's commitment to investigating the alleged improprieties.
The revelation comes from North Tongu MP, Hon. Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, who expressed his concerns and called out the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government for what he describes as “despicable deception” in handling the SML/GRA scandal.
According to Ablakwa, the Commissioner-General left the country less than 24 hours after President Akufo-Addo's press statement on January 2, 2024, announcing the urgent KPMG audit. Ablakwa's tracking of Owusu-Amoah's movements indicates that he departed for São Tomé and Príncipe, adding an air of suspicion to the entire situation.
Ablakwa pointed out the apparent contradiction in Owusu-Amoah's choice of passport, noting that he used an ordinary Ghanaian passport issued in 2019 instead of his Service Passport issued in 2019 as GRA Commissioner-General. This detail, according to Ablakwa, suggests that the GRA boss did not embark on an official trip.
The departure of the Commissioner-General and his family adds a layer of complexity to the ongoing investigations into the SML scandal, particularly considering the tight deadline of six days remaining for KPMG to submit its findings to the President.
Ablakwa stated, “Painstaking investigations further reveal that Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Adu Owusu-Amoah has told a few very close friends and allies that he will never return to Ghana.” Allegedly, Owusu-Amoah believes there's a scheme to make him a scapegoat following journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni's exposé, despite claiming to have acted on the orders of a “notorious looting cabal.”
In response to these developments, the NDC Caucus in Parliament is demanding an urgent inquiry into Owusu-Amoah's departure.
They seek to identify and sanction those who facilitated his exit despite the presidential assurances of a high-stakes KPMG audit. The opposition vows to unravel the subsequent silence, grand deception, and any attempts at a cover-up.