On May 14, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) issued a denial of supposed claims that Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd. (SML), had been authorised to expand its revenue assurance role to include the upstream petroleum and solid minerals sectors.
This denial, according to the GRA in an unsigned statement issued by its Communication and Public Affairs Department, follows widespread media reports suggesting that SML had unveiled a new mandate to oversee revenue mobilisation in those critical extractive industries.
The GRA maintained that its suspension of SML's services in the upstream petroleum and mineral sectors pending further review issued in April 2024 remains in force, adding that it (GRA) "…has not instructed SML to activate nor resume operations under the 2023 Consolidation of Revenue Assurance Services Contract covering those sectors." In an interesting twist however, officials of SML have denied making any claim the company has actually expanded its operations to the sectors concerned.
Myjoyonline.com has chanced upon a letter from the Office of the President dated 4th December 2024, in which former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo expressed "no objection to implementing the Upstream and Minerals Revenue Assurance System" of SML.
