Minerals Commission distances itself from controversial SML contract - The Herald ghana
The article exposes a controversial government contract awarded to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) for revenue assurance in the mining and petroleum sectors, highlighting a disconnect between corporate claims of substantial savings and actual data. Despite SML asserting it prevented billions in losses, independent analysis and official statistics suggest that consumption growth occurred naturally, unrelated to SML’s intervention. This discrepancy, coupled with revelations of false marketing claims by the company, has led to a presidential suspension of the contract and an international audit. Regulatory bodies, including the Minerals and Petroleum Commissions, have distanced themselves from the award, stating they were not involved and possess no evidence of revenue losses that would justify such an arrangement. This suggests the contract may have been granted without a verified basis for need, raising serious questions about governance and the due diligence process employed by the Ministry of Finance. The lack of transparency regarding how the company was selected and validated has fueled public scrutiny and parliamentary investigations. This case is highly relevant to open data initiatives because it underscores the critical necessity of transparent, accessible, and verifiable public data. When government contracts rely on unverified corporate assertions rather than open statutory reports, accountability erodes. The investigation demonstrates that making official data publicly available allows civil society and journalists to challenge official narratives, expose discrepancies, and demand greater fiscal responsibility and transparency in public spending.
Source: theheraldghana.comPublished on 2024-01-18