GRA-SML deal: Furnish Parliament copy of KPMG report – Adongo tells Akufo-Addo

Isaac Adongo, Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, has asked President Akufo-Addo to furnish the house with a copy of the audit firm KPMG’s report on the deal between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).

President Akufo-Addo has received the final report from the auditing firm KPMG about the GRA-SML deal.

The firm, among other findings, stated that no technical needs assessment was done before the engagement of SML and that SML partially delivered on the service requirements.

But the Bolgatanga Central legislator implored the President to lay a copy of the report before Parliament when the house resumes from recess.

In a statement issued on Friday, April 26, Mr. Adongo maintained that this would help the Finance Committee in its investigation of the deal.

“At this moment, I respectfully request that Parliament be furnished with a copy of the KPMG report to aid the Finance Committee’s investigation.

“It strikes me as unusual that the report only contains mild suggestions and recommendations despite the abundance of information available to the public regarding the SML arrangement.

“Consequently, we must scrutinise the comprehensiveness of their mandate, including their TOR, methodology, and approach.”

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“Our primary objective is to expose the beneficial owners of this group and utilise Parliament’s authority to recover the funds that have been paid due to this illegality,” he stated.

“I trust that the President understands that my Parliamentary scrutiny request is founded on section 33 of the PFM Act, which mandates that Parliament authorise contracts with multi-year obligations in the first instance.”

“For the unsuspecting public, this recent development further reinforces the belief amongst many discerning people of Ghana, that Bawumia and his associates are simply spearheading a corruption-infested digitalisation strategy steeped in delusions and shrewdness.

“Without equivocation, this government’s touted mantra of digitalisation is merely a scheme, a political propaganda of chicanery deployed to hoodwink and exploit the people of Ghana for their self-serving benefit,” an excerpt of his statement said.

The KPMG audit was ordered by the President on January 2, 2024, in response to an expose by the Fourth Estate.

The initial deadline was set for Tuesday, January 16, 2024, however, owing to unforeseen circumstances, the deadline was moved to Friday, February 23, 2024.

According to the audit findings, SML has been paid GH¢1,061,054,778 in total since 2018, even though it has only partially fulfilled its responsibilities.

Meanwhile, SML clarified in a statement on April 25 that the audit assurance report by KPMG confirmed that it has not received a payment of $100 million from the government.

It emphasised that the report exonerated their position following the expose by The Fourth Estate.

Click HERE to read Mr. Adongo’s full statement.

 

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