John Mahama
The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance has appealed to President-elect, John Dramani Mahama to consider terminating the Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) Contract.
The CSOs argue the current SML contract has siphoned off millions of Ghana Cedis into private ownership without providing adequate benefits to the country.
“Your Excellency, the Coalition stands ready to support your administration in implementing reforms that enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency. To this end, we respectfully present the following recommendations as critical priorities for your new administration.
“Terminate the Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) Contract, The ongoing SML contract has diverted millions of Ghana Cedis into private hands without delivering commensurate value to the nation. Terminating this agreement will seal a significant revenue leakage and restore public confidence in financial management practices,” the letter said.
Agyapa Royalties Deal
“Abolish the Agyapa Royalties Deal and Review the Mineral Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act. We urge your administration to permanently terminate the Agyapa Royalties Deal, which threatens Ghana’s mineral wealth and has faced widespread public rejection,” it added.
The CSOs are The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), iWatch Africa, Revenue Mobilization Africa (RMA), Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa), IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Centre for Extractives and Development (CEDA), Institute of Energy Security (IES) and Human Environment and Livelihoods Platform Foundation (HELP Foundation Africa).
Legal action
Some five non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in August sued the outgoing government in attempt to recover over GH₵1 billion paid to Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).
The NGOs were challenging the legality of the payment and seeking accountability for the use of public funds.
Earlier this year, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed audit firm KPMG to conduct an audit of the transaction between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML. The contract in question was designed to improve revenue assurance in the downstream petroleum sector, upstream petroleum production, and the minerals and metals resources value chain.
The KPMG audit report revealed significant irregularities, including the failure of the GRA to secure the necessary approvals from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and Parliament before entering into the contract with SML.
These findings have raised concerns about the transparency and legality of the agreement.
