Alexander Afenyo-Markin
The Majority in Parliament has rejected calls from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to prosecute persons involved in the contract award between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).
According to the NPP MPs, no wrong has been done, nor has it been proved that any officer of the state has caused financial loss to the country that warrants prosecution.
The National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, recently called for the immediate termination of all the contracts entered into between SML and the GRA, describing them as illegal.
He said the GRA had also made illegal payments to SML on the basis of the contract, which ought to be retrieved by the government.
However, addressing the media in Parliament yesterday, members of the Majority Caucus defended the contract, maintaining that no wrong had been done in the arrangement.
Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader, branded the NDC’s demand as unjustified, adding that it appeared the party had not paid attention to contract details.
“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,” he stressed.
He argued that what the NDC perceives as payments to SML are not payments borne out of the government’s revenue, explaining that SML is paid from the revenue generated.
“They are paid 0.05% per litre of revenue that they generate as a result of the system that they put in place to monitor activities in the petroleum sector,” he added.
“What I want to urge our colleagues in the opposition is that they should not kill 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 business but often Ghanaian businesses suffer,” he noted.
According to the Majority Leader, perhaps, if the nation encourages Ghanaian business people, they will do better.
“We should encourage Ghanaian businessmen, we should encourage our state institutions to do business with Ghanaian businessmen with good initiatives and where there are challenges, we should question but act within the remit of such challenges as we see,” he admonished.
KPMG Report Demand
Regarding the demand for the full disclosure of KPMG’s audit report, the Majority Leader stated that the report is an advisory document to guide the President in his decision-making.
Afenyo-Markin disclosed that it is not within the right of anyone to demand copies of the report.
“There is no doubt in our minds that the document is for advisory purposes. It is an opinion which is guiding Mr. President in decision making,” he emphasised.
By Ernest Kofi Adu