The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has alleged that the government is paying a private company about $75 million for doing no work.
The private company in question, Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML), supposedly has a contract with the government to monitor the exploration of gold and oil in Ghana.
In a post shared on X on Monday, December 18, 2023, Dafeamekpor said that stakeholders in the sector are saying SML is taking $75 million per year for doing nothing.
He added that Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, who issued the contract has refused the invitation of parliament to answer to it.
“The MoF & GRA have given a contract to an entity called SML who, we are told by industry players, do practically nothing and yet gets paid obscene fees in excess of $75m a year.
“Efforts to get the MoF to come explain to parliament exactly what this SML does for Govt have proved futile,” he wrote.
The MP shared a document from the Ministry of Finance which stipulates the function of the SML and indicated that its contract should be forwarded to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
1. The Honourable Minister has determined that there is a need to monitor the production and shipment of oil and gold out of the Country.
2. To this end, he would like to expand the scope of the Revenue Assurance work being performed by SML. to include upstream oil drilling by the oil production companies and the gold mining companies.
3. 3. The attached revised contract has been reviewed by the Legal Department of the Ministry of Finance. However, because the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) signed the original contract on behalf of the Government, there is a need for GRA to also review and opine on the expanded contract before signing.
4. Kindly forward the new proposed contract to GRA's Legal Department for their review and input.
BAI/NOQ
The MoF & GRA have given a contract to an entity called SML who, we are told by industry players, do practically nothing and yet gets paid obscene fees in excess of $75m a year. Efforts to get the MoF to come explain to Parl exactly what this SML does for Govt have proved futile pic.twitter.com/KghhyC9RwO
— Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, Esq. MP. (@etsedafeamekpor) December 18, 2023
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