Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML), a Ghanaian innovative solution company that helps the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with Revenue collection, has revealed that the amount of revenue published in the KPMG audit report is unfounded.
According to Yaa Serwaa Sarpong, Director, Support Services for SML, its outfit per the Bank of Ghana Petroleum holding account has contributed about Ghs 14.8 billion to the downstream Petroleum tax revenue as against the GHS 2.4 billion published in the KPMG report.
In an exclkusive interview with Kwame Nkrumah Tikese on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia, Serwaa Sarpong revealed that, prior to their engagement with GRA, the requisite taxes the government was supposed to derive from the downstream petroleum was very low.
"GRA’s challenge prior to our coming in was a revenue leakage in the downstream. The revenue GRA was supposed to get was not forthcoming. The petroleum is lifted and used but the revenue or tax that ought to be paid to or derived by GRA was never gotten,’’ she intimated.
She mentioned that, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) supervises the sales of the Petroleum whiles the GRA supervises the revenue collection but the liftings that is supposed to tell GRA the amount of revenue to collect is usually tampered with, hence, GRA is unable to mobilise the expected revenue.
".....there has always been a deficiency in the revenue collection of GRA, hence the GRA’s decision to engage the services of SML," she added.
According to SML’s representative, both the GRA and the NPA did not have their own meters to be tracking the quantum of petroleum at the downstream, thus, making it difficult to calculate the actual revenue ought to be mobilized. Since the operations of SML, there has not been any leakages in the downstream petroleum.
SML further debunked claims that the government paid $100m for their operations.
"Government has not given SML any mobilisation money. Our operations are purely risk and reward. Risk and reward in the sense that if you engage us to work for you, we do not take any payment until we are done with the work. That is the risk we take. If we are able to deliver on our mandate, then you pay us but if we are unable to deliver then we bear the cost. We have solely sponsored our operations with GRA so if anyone says we have received any $100m, debunk it because it is false.’’
‘’Within 16 months prior to our operations, government lost GHS 4.6 billion just on the downstream petroleum alone. We have been able to save Ghana 14. 8 billion since we started operating in 2020. So the figures quoted by KPMG is false. They should look at the Bank of Ghana Petroleum holding figures,’’ Serwaa Sarpong stressed.
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