Corruption fight: Ghana wouldn't have gone to IMF if Akufo-Addo was serious — Sulemana Braimah

Sulemana Braimah, the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has criticized President Nana Akufo-Addo for lack of seriousness in fighting corruption.

He argued that Ghana would not have needed an IMF bailout if corruption was properly addressed.

In a social media post on Wednesday, December 20, the MFWA boss noted, "If Prez Akufo Addo was serious about fighting corruption, we wouldn't need an IMF bailout; we wouldn't have had to over-borrow; our schools and hospitals would have been in better conditions; and the supposed factories under 1D1F would have been working. But sadly, he's not."

His comments come in the wake of an investigative report revealing serious irregularities in a multi-million cedi contract between the Ghanaian government and Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited (SML).

The Fourth Estate report details how SML, with no prior experience, has been receiving huge monthly payments of up to GH₵24 million since 2019 to address issues in Ghana's downstream petroleum sector that regulatory authorities said were already being efficiently handled.

It further revealed that SML took credit online for revenue increases it did not contribute to, including an unfounded claim that it had saved Ghana over GH₵3 billion.

SML had reportedly admitted it did not perform the listed functions.

However, the questionable payments continue despite experts saying SML's role duplicates existing work and the contract should be cancelled.

Government agencies, per the report, have also refused requests to disclose payment details to SML, raising transparency concerns.

Meanwhile, SML Ghana and the Ghana Revenue Authority have in separate statements, denied irregularities in the contract as claimed by the investigative report.