KPMG audit reveals GHC1bn paid to SML for services since 2018

This was disclosed in a press statement by the Presidency's Communications Director, Eugene Arhin, on Wednesday, April 24.

The audit, initiated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on January 2, 2024, with an original deadline of January 16, 2024, was extended to February 23, 2024. Following heightened public demand for the report's release, the President opted to disclose the findings.

According to the statement, "the total fees paid under the contracts from 2018 to the date of suspension amount to GHC1,061,054,778. No fee has been paid for the upstream petroleum audit and minerals audit services."

The statement also revealed that "the total fees estimated to be paid to SML under the 2023 Contract for five years is GHC5,173,091,857, which averages to about GHC1 billion per year."

President Akufo-Addo, however, has endorsed the recommendation to terminate the upstream petroleum and minerals audit services previously provided to the GRA by Strategic Management Limited (SML). He directed the GRA and the Ministry of Finance to initiate renegotiations concerning the contract.