The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has staunchly defended its decision to engage Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) for revenue assurance services, claiming that due processes were meticulously followed in the procurement of these services.
In an official statement released on Wednesday, the GRA clarified that the contract with SML spans five years and is explicitly performance-based, duly approved under Section 40 of the Public Procurement Act, Act 663, 2003.
This clarification comes in response to a report by the Fourth Estate on Monday, which claimed that SML had been granted a 10-year contract and was allegedly extracting $100 million annually from the agreement.
The Fourth Estate’s investigation also challenged SML’s assertions that it played a pivotal role in saving Ghana billions of cedis in the downstream petroleum sector, emphasizing that their findings contradicted such claims.
Contrary to the reported duration and financial details, the GRA emphasized that the consolidated contract with SML is a risk-reward agreement designed to enhance the efficiency of Revenue Assurance Services provided to the GRA.
According to the GRA statement, SML is obligated to allocate resources for the contract’s execution, and payment is contingent upon demonstrated value addition. In essence, the contract operates on the principle of risk and reward, ensuring that SML’s compensation is directly tied to the successful delivery of revenue assurance services.
Read full statement here: