SML-GRA Contract: Insufficient evidence to prosecute government officials — Afenyo-Markin

Majority Caucus in Parliament says there is insufficient evidence to implicate any government official as causing financial loss to the state concerning the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) contract under the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The Caucus argued that prosecuting anyone for the SML-GRA deal was unjustified.

Speaking to the Parliamentary Press Corps in Parliament on Friday, Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader, dismissed the National Democratic Congress' demands for the prosecution of individuals involved in the contract, describing it as baseless.

He said: “Now we are aware that our friends in the NDC are calling for certain prosecutions. I think that they have not paid attention to the whole issue, and they only want to do politics as usual.

“Their call is unfounded for the simple reason that there isn't any established proof of any officer of state causing financial loss to the state.

“…Indeed, what they think are payments to SML are not payments borne out of the Government's revenue. If you peruse the agreement, SML is paid out of what it generates, and they would have to pay attention to the details.

“They are paid 0.05 per cent per litre of revenue that they generate as a result of the system put in place to monitor activities in the petroleum sector.

“And it is instructive to also note that this company opened its doors to the Mines and Energy Committee to inspect and to see the nature of their operations.”

Mr Afenyo-Markin, the New Patriotic Party’s Member of Parliament for Effutu, advised the NDC not to destroy Ghanaian businesses.

“…Often under the guise of due diligence and ensuring that there is transparency, we often get out of control and destroy Ghanaian companies, whereas foreign ones who operate in certain sectors get a kind of protection that makes them develop their businesses whereas Ghanaian businesses suffer,” he said.

The Leader of Government Business said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s decision to conduct a thorough review of the contract was in the best interests of the public.

GNA