SML scandal: I don't owe you an apology — Ablakwa replies GRA

North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has rejected calls by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for him to apologize over claims he made about its Commissioner-General in relation to investigations into the controversial Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) contract.

In a statement released on Thursday, January 11, the GRA demanded an "immediate retraction and unqualified apologies" from Ablakwa and GhanaExtractives.com for alleging that Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah had "absconded" during the SML audit probe.

However, in response to the statement via his X today, Ablakwa said "I do not owe them an apology, and they surely are not going to get one."

He stood by his previous comments, saying "the GRA response abysmally fails to discredit the findings of my unimpeachable parliamentary oversight."

Ablakwa argued that Ghana is the only country where the President ordered an audit into a major scandal but allowed "the head of the organisation under…to proceed on leave and assisted to travel out of the country during the said audit,” describing it as “absolutely incredulous!"

He further questioned whether the Commissioner-General's leave is truly 6 days as noted by the Authority’s release.

“Leaving Ghana on the 3rd of January, 2024 and resuming work on the 15th of January, 2024 which instructively is the entire period of the promised 2-weeks audit cannot be described as a 6-day leave,” he said.

The MP said nothing will stop him from carrying out his constitutional oversight mandate, vowing to pursue the matter until full transparency is achieved.