STRATEGIC MOBILISATION LIMITED REVENUE ASSURANCE CONTRACT
The attention of the Board and Management of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been drawn to a publication made by The Fourth Estate on its website on 18th December 2023 and subsequent publications in various media.
The Publication alleges that the Hon.Minister for Finance has awarded a ‘’questionable’’ contract to Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited (SML) to monitor Upstream Petroleum Production and to Audit the value chain of Minerals and Metals Resources.
BACKGROUND TO CONTRACT
The GRA affirms that, together with the Ministry of Finance, it has signed a consolidated contract with SML to monitor and audit;
(a) Downstream Petroleum Sector (2019)
(b) Upstream Petroleum Production (2023)
(c) Minerals and Metals Resources Value Chain (2023)
The new and consolidated contract which is for a term of five (5) years and not ten (10) years (as alleged by the publication) was agreed upon based on the performance of SML in monitoring the downstream petroleum sector and the provision of instant reconciliation of real- time data in the sector.
PERFORMANCE OF DOWNSTREAM PETROLEUM ASSURANCE CONTRACT
1. Prior to the engagement of SML, GRA operated amanual system for the measurement of fuel in depots. The use of dipsticks for measurement was archaic and posed a risk to officers who climbed a ladder to measure the fuel in the tankers. It was inefficient and prone to revenue leakages.
Currently, oil deposited by the Bulk-Oil Distribution Companies in the depots is measured by SML with the aid of sensors installed on the depots (Red flow metres). During offloading from the depots, SML again measures all the various liftings of the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
THE CONSOLIDATED CONTRACT
Based on the performance of Strategic Mobilization Ghana (SML) Limited, the Ministry of Finance directed that the existing contract of SML be expanded to cover the petroleum Upstream and the Mining Sector to minimize the risk of revenue leakages.
The Consolidated Contract seeks to leverage the experience, technology, and know-how of SML Ghana Limited in the Downstream Petroleum Sector and the Minerals and Metals Sector to provide revenue assurance in the Upstream.
RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS BY FOURTH ESTATE
CONCLUSION
GRA is confident that with the introduction of various initiatives, technology, and revenue assurance measures such as this, GRA will continue to see a significant increase in revenue such as the about 50% year-on-year increase in revenue this year.
However, GRA will continue to explore more methods of blocking leakages and increasing compliance to enable us to attain a national Tax to GDP ratio of over 18%.
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