GRA has been the sole client of SML since 2017 – KPMG report says

GRA has been the sole client of SML since 2017 – KPMG report says

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) until its recent contract termination with SML had been the sole client of Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) since the latter’s inception in 2017.

The report reveals that SML was incorporated on February 14, 2017, as SMEL.

The Ghana Revenue Authority, however, between June 16, 2017, and the same September, made three attempts to contract SMEL under a single-source contract but was rejected by the Public Procurement Authority.

The report notes that in November 2017, SMEL changed its name to SML and in June 2018 the following year, was appointed as a subcontractor of West Blue Ghana Limited, who at the time were service providers for the GRA.

The GRA is alleged to have, since the appointment of SML as subcontractors, engaged SML as main contractors on five different contracts under sole sourcing without approval from the Public Procurement Authority.

The report further notes that the GRA entered into some contracts without parliamentary approval even though the Public Financial Management Act mandates that an entity that enters into contracts that seek to bind the Government of Ghana financially for more than one year ought to receive ministerial and parliamentary approval.

It is surprising how SML could have the GRA as its only client for more than seven years despite providing services that could be beneficial to other institutions or organizations.

The services the company provide include; transaction price audit services, external price verification services and downstream petroleum measurement audit services.

The KPMG report was made available to the public despite the Presidency having earlier denied requests for the report to be made public.

The Presidency in a statement on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, cited the need for transparency and accountability as reasons for making the report public.

The KPMG audit was necessitated by outbursts following a report by the Fourth Estate on how the Ghana Revenue Authority was paying SML monthly, allegedly for no work done.