“There was no genuine need for SML contract” – OSP

Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, has declared the controversial revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML (Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited) as needless.

According to Kissi Agyebeng, the OSP comprehensive investigation concluded there was “no genuine need” for the contract.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, October 30, revealed,  “There was no genuine need for contracting SML for the obligations it’s purported to perform”.

He stressed were “secured for SML through self-serving official patronage, sponsorship [and] promotion based on false and unverified claims.”

The OSP’s investigation painted a picture of non-compliance with Ghana’s public financial laws, revealing that the SML contracts were attended by egregious statutory breaches, adding that“mandatory prior approvals were wantonly disregarded by relevant officials who acted with increased and emboldened impunity.”

The most alarming finding revolved around the mechanism for payments made to SML. The OSP’s probe uncovered a significant failure in the public financial management system responsible for oversight and accountability.

The Special Prosecutor discovered “there was no established financial management system of monitoring and verification to ensure that the Republic was obtaining the value for the money it was paying to SML.”

“Crucially, the investigation concluded that the payments to SML were set on an “automatic mode, detached from actual performance”, a scenario which, according to the OSP, directly resulted in “causing financial loss to the public”.

This suggests a system where public funds were disbursed based on a calendar schedule rather than verified results or deliverables achieved by SML, indicating a severe failure in contract management and oversight within the GRA and the Ministry of Finance”.

Meanwhile, the Special Prosecutor’s office is expected to proceed with prosecution against all culpable officials.

Furthermore, Kissi Agyebeng has named former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta as the chief patron, supporter, and promoter of the SML deal.

In a detailed press briefing, Kissi Agyebeng revealed that the SML (Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited), which aimed to provide revenue assurance services in the petroleum, mining, and liquid bulk distribution (LBD) sectors, lacked a legitimate operational requirement.

According to Kissi Agyabeng, both Ofori-Atta and SML management were criminally minded in their operations.

He emphasised that the OSPs’ investigation established that the SML contract was not grounded in any genuine operational need, adding that the payment made to SML was a misuse of public funds.

Kissi Agyabeng, addressing a press conference on Thursday, October 30, revealed that the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) lacked both the tools and technical competence to execute the audit and revenue assurance services that it was contracted to perform for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

He highlighted that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) uncovered glaring statutory breaches, conflicts of interest, and unjustified payments.