Private legal practitioner and anti-corruption campaigner, Martin Kpebu, has called for the immediate prosecution of former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta for causing financial loss to the state in the controversial Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML) deal.

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In an interview on JoyNews, Kpebu stated that officials of SML should also be included in the prosecution.

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He emphasized that the damning findings in the KPMG audit report necessitate the prosecution of those involved in drafting and executing the contract.

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“I have seen parts of the [audit] report which states that SML didn’t deliver so we need to quantify how much we lost and hold Ofori-Atta and the other officials involved for this loss,” he said.

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The lawyer further emphasized the need to terminate the revenue mobilisation deal between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Finance Ministry, and SML.

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He noted that since SML failed to fulfill its mandate as stipulated in the contract, the deal should be canceled.

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“We need to terminate this agreement, because in law, when an agreement is void, public agencies shouldn’t pay money,” he said.

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In April this year, an investigation by The Fourth Estate, a project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), uncovered numerous irregularities in the contracts between Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML), the Ministry of Finance, and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

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The investigation revealed discrepancies in SML's claims regarding its services aimed at tackling revenue losses in the downstream petroleum sector. President Akufo-Addo subsequently instructed KPMG to conduct a comprehensive audit.

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Despite SML's assertions that its services were effectively addressing issues such as under-declaration, dilution, and diversion of petroleum products, evidence presented by The Fourth Estate showed that these functions were being carried out by other companies and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

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Managing Director of SML, Christian Tetteh Sottie, admitted to the inaccuracies and promptly removed the false claims from the company's website.

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Despite these revelations and other admitted falsehoods, Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta initiated a process in 2023 to expand SML's contracts to include the gold and oil-producing sectors. This decision significantly increased the annual contract sum to over $100 million.

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Following the investigation by The Fourth Estate and subsequent public outcry, President Akufo-Addo suspended the contracts and commissioned KPMG to conduct an audit and submit a report.

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While the president released a press statement regarding the findings, the full report provides even more damning revelations about SML's operations within its contracts with the Ministry of Finance and the GRA.

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