The head of Ghana’s tax authority, who allegedly fled the country after signing a dubious contract, is back in Accra.
The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Adu Owusu-Amoah, has returned to Ghana following allegations that he absconded the country over a $100 million corruption scandal involving a private company.
According to Bright Simons, a vice president of IMANI Africa, a policy think tank, Rev. Dr. Adu Owusu-Amoah arrived in Ghana on the evening of Wednesday, January 10, 2024.
Simons, who posted the information on X, a social media platform, questioned the motive behind the GRA boss’s return and whether he was ordered to do so by the authorities.
A Controversial Contract
The scandal revolves around a contract awarded by the Ministry of Finance to Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited (SML), a company that claims to provide monitoring and auditing services for the upstream petroleum sector and the minerals and metals value chain.
An investigative report by The Fourth Estate, a media house, exposed the contract as a sham and accused the ministry and the GRA of inflating the cost and scope of the project.
The report, titled ‘The GH¢ 3 Billion Lie’, revealed that SML had no track record or expertise in the fields it was contracted to monitor and audit, and that the company was charging the government exorbitant fees for services that were already being performed by other agencies.
The report also alleged that SML had links to some powerful individuals in the government and the ruling party, and that the contract was a scheme to siphon public funds for personal gain.
A Presidential Probe
The exposé sparked public outrage and calls for accountability from civil society groups, opposition parties, and anti-corruption campaigners.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who has vowed to fight corruption in his second term, ordered an investigation into the matter and appointed KPMG, an international auditing firm, to conduct a forensic audit of the contract.
However, some critics have questioned the sincerity and credibility of the president’s probe, citing his close relationship with some of the alleged beneficiaries of the contract.
They have also accused the president of being complicit in the scandal, alleging that he was aware of the contract and approved it.
A Missing Commissioner
One of the key figures in the scandal is the GRA boss, Rev. Dr. Adu Owusu-Amoah, who signed the contract on behalf of the tax authority.
According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), the commissioner-general and his entire nuclear family left the country hours before the president announced the investigation.
Ablakwa, who also posted his claims on X, said that the GRA boss had no intention of returning to Ghana anytime soon, and that he had told his close relatives that he was fleeing from the scandal.
He also alleged that the president was aware of the commissioner-general’s departure and that he had facilitated his escape.
He said that the absence of the GRA boss meant that the investigation would be futile and that the president was only pretending to care about the issue.
