ACCRA, Oct 30 (The African Portal) – Ghana’s Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, said on Thursday that a controversial revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) was unnecessary and breached several public financial laws.
Agyebeng told reporters that an investigation by his office found “no genuine need” for the contract, which was intended to provide revenue assurance services in the petroleum, mining, and liquid bulk distribution sectors.
“The contracts were not awarded based on merit or need but were secured for SML through self-serving official patronage and promotion based on false and unverified claims,” he said.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) said the agreements were marked by “egregious statutory breaches,” including a disregard for mandatory prior approvals required under Ghana’s Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), and the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).
According to the OSP, officials involved in approving the contracts acted “with increased and emboldened impunity,” bypassing key safeguards designed to protect public funds.
The investigation also found that payments to SML were made automatically without verification of actual performance, leading to what Agyebeng described as “financial loss to the Republic.”
“There was no established financial management system of monitoring and verification to ensure that the Republic was obtaining value for money,” the Special Prosecutor said.
The OSP said it would recommend prosecution of officials found culpable in the award and execution of the contracts. Details of the full report, including the sums involved, are expected to be published soon.
