{"id":101064,"date":"2025-10-30T15:04:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=101064"},"modified":"2025-10-30T15:04:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:04:25","slug":"sml-contract-was-needless-osp-concludes-after-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=101064","title":{"rendered":"SML contract was needless \u2013 OSP concludes after probe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 25 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has delivered a damning indictment on the controversial revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML (Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited), concluding that there was \u201cno genuine need\u201d for the contract.<\/p>\n

In a highly detailed press briefing following a comprehensive investigation, the OSP announced critical findings that point to systemic breaches of public financial regulations and an apparent abuse of official power, resulting in financial loss.<\/p>\n

Contract Secured Through \u201cSelf-Serving Official Patronage\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Agyebeng\u2019s investigation found that the contract, which aimed to provide revenue assurance services in the petroleum, mining, and liquid bulk distribution (LBD) sectors, lacked a legitimate operational requirement.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere was no genuine need for contracting SML for the obligations it\u2019s purported to perform,\u201d the Special Prosecutor declared.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He asserted that the contracts were not awarded based on merit or need but were \u201csecured for SML through self-serving, official patronage, sponsorship [and] promotion based on false and unverified claims.\u201d <\/p>\n

Egregious Statutory Breaches and Impunity<\/strong><\/p>\n

The OSP\u2019s findings painted a picture of widespread non-compliance with Ghana\u2019s public financial laws. The investigation revealed that the SML contracts were \u201cattended by egregious statutory breaches,\u201d primarily because \u201cmandatory prior approvals were wantonly disregarded by relevant officials who acted with increased and emboldened impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key regulations often disregarded in major government contracts, such as those related to the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) and the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), were allegedly bypassed. The failure to obtain mandatory prior approvals for such a high-value contract represents a serious contravention of the established legal framework designed to safeguard state assets.<\/p>\n

Payments Detached from Performance: Financial Loss Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most alarming finding revolved around the mechanism for payments made to SML. The OSP\u2019s probe uncovered a significant failure in the public financial management system responsible for oversight and accountability.<\/p>\n

The Special Prosecutor revealed that \u201cthere was no established financial management system of monitoring and verification to ensure that the Republic was obtaining the value for the money it was paying to SML.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crucially, the investigation concluded that the payments to SML were set on an \u201cautomatic mode, detached from actual performance,\u201d a scenario which, according to the OSP, directly resulted in \u201ccausing financial loss to the public.\u201d <\/p>\n

This suggests a system where public funds were disbursed based on a calendar schedule rather than verified results or deliverables achieved by SML, indicating a severe failure in contract management and oversight within the GRA and the Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n

The OSP\u2019s full report is expected to detail the exact monetary figures involved, but the findings place the burden of responsibility squarely on the officials who initiated, promoted, and approved the contracts and the subsequent payment mechanisms without adequate due diligence or regulatory compliance. <\/p>\n

The Special Prosecutor\u2019s office is expected to proceed with prosecution against all culpable officials.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SMLThe Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has delivered a damning indictment on the controversial revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML (Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited), concluding that there was “no genuine need” for the contract.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117,335,10,9,5359,1887],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-osp","category-politics","category-popular","category-sml","category-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=101064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=101064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=101064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=101064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}