The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has demanded that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration move quickly to reclaim all funds given to Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML), an organization that guarantees petroleum revenue.

On January 2, 2024, President Akufo-Addo gave KPMG the order to audit the two entities’ contract.

A press release from the Presidency on April 24 following the audit report’s submission stated that the total fees paid under the contracts from 2018 to the suspension date totaled more than one billion Ghana cedis. SML refuted this claim.
Speaking on Monday, April 29, at the Moment of Truth series in Accra, National Communication Officer of the NDC Sammy Gyamfi demanded that the complete KPMG investigative report on the SML matter be made available immediately.

Based on suspicions that the report contains information beyond what the President has released, the NDC is making these demands.

The government is attempting to hide this “damning and sleazy SML scheme,” according to the party, which is confirmed by the government’s decision to permit SML to carry out its operations under contracts that did not receive initial approval from the Public Procurement Authority, the GRA board, and Parliament in accordance with the Public Financial Management Act.

The results of KPMG’s investigations showed that various required approvals were not obtained for the agreements between the government and SML regarding transaction audit, external price verification, and downstream petroleum audit contracts.

The NDC contends that this renders the GH¢1,061,054,778 in payments made to SML unlawful.

Since the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government took office seven years ago, the NDC has denounced what it refers to as “a well-established practice of rampant corruption, sordid coverups, and the culture of impunity.”

In addition to the retrieval of all payments made by the government to SML under the illegal agreements, which have caused a significant financial loss to the State, the party is requesting from the government “the immediate termination of ALL the illegal contracts entered into between SML and the GRA.”

“The immediate publication of the full KPMG investigative report on the dealings between SML and the GRA and; the prosecution of all persons involved in the award of illegal contracts and the illegal payments thereof, to SML.”

The NDC has thus promised to prosecute criminal cases against all parties connected to the SML scandal when they win power in the upcoming December 2024 Election. The party pledged to hold specific individuals responsible for breaking Ghanaian laws, such as the Public Procurement Act.