The KPMG audit report released by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo on May 22 has uncovered that Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), a company previously engaged by the government for various services, has accrued a significant tax liability totaling GH¢31.88 million to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). This debt includes unpaid taxes and accrued interest amounting to GH¢18.50 million as of January 31, 2024, spanning a service period of over two years.
The reputable accounting and consultancy firm KPMG’s report clarifies SML’s noncompliance with its legal requirements regarding tax filing and payments. The period of non-compliance in question was from June 1, 2020, to August 31, 2023. During this time, SML was expected to have had the GRA deduct its tax obligations for services delivered.
According to KPMG’s findings, there were occasions between September 2020 and April 2021 when SML received bulk payments totaling GH¢13.38 million for eight months’ worth of bills that were missing the necessary Withholding Tax (WHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) deductions. This mistake violates the customary procedure for tax deductions under the GRA, which was normally in effect from June 2020 to August 2023.
The report goes on to say that SML has not addressed the substantial sum owing or made any efforts to correct the problem, even after being made aware of these disparities. As of the report’s release, SML has not complied with the formal demands made by the GRA to satisfy the outstanding tax arrears following the audit.
The Fourth Estate’s investigative research, which revealed several inconsistencies in the contracts between SML, the Ministry of Finance, and the GRA, led to the commissioning of the audit. Concerns were expressed in these papers concerning SML’s efficacy in lowering revenue losses in the downstream petroleum industry. The study discovered that, in contrast to SML’s claims, other organizations, such as the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
Christian Tetteh Sottie, the Managing Director of SML, recognized these differences and later took down the false statements from the company’s official website. Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta proceeded forward with plans to expand SML’s contracts into the gold and oil production sectors in 2023, significantly boosting the contractual value to more than $100 million annually, in spite of these problems and the ongoing scrutiny.
Significant reaction from the public over this move and the ensuing problems forced President Akufo-Addo to halt the contracts and order a comprehensive KPMG audit. The audit’s results, which have recently been available to the public, offer a more thorough understanding of the scope of poor management and possible misconduct in the contracts that SML brokered with support from the GRA and the Ministry of Finance.
