Five Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are demanding the recovery of over GH₵1 billion paid to Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).
This comes after a KPMG audit, commissioned by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, revealed that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) awarded a contract to SML without obtaining the necessary approvals from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) or Parliament. The contract was intended to enhance revenue assurance in the petroleum and minerals sectors.
In response to the audit’s findings, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), Human Rights and Governance Centre, and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) have filed a lawsuit against the government.
Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of MFWA, emphasized that the NGOs’ actions are driven by the need to ensure that the state recovers any funds lost due to legal breaches. He argued that the contract violated public procurement laws and lacked parliamentary oversight, and therefore, the money paid to SML must be returned to the state.
Braimah stated, “If we’ve lost money as a result of these breaches, the money must be retrieved and sent back to the state.”
