The chairman of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has disclosed the main reason the presidency released a full audit report into a financial transaction involving the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The presidency on May 22, backtracked on an earlier position to withhold the full KPMG report into the GRA-Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) deal that had come under severe critique.
While a statement signed by the president’s spokesman said the president waived exemption clauses in the Right To Information law to release the over 300-page document, Asiedu Nketiah has given a different account.
He alleged in an interview on Joy News (May 23, 2024) that the release of the full report was a precondition by the Minority in Parliament if the president wanted their cooperation on some agreements before the House. Indeed, a meeting betwen the leadership of Parliament took place during the week at the Jubilee House, with the full leadership of the Minority Caucus led by Cassiel Ato Forson in attendance. “It was a condition that Dr. Ato Forson gave when there was a meeting between the president and the leadership of parliament.
The president was trying to get their concurrence on a number of issues and the approval of these agreements. “So we (Minority) said that we suspected there was something wrong and then you put KPMG there to verify, the report is in, you don’t want us to see it and then you want us to proceed to approve something? “So, publish the report for every Ghanaian to know so that we will see that what you are presenting to parliament contains the corrective measures,” he stressed stating that the Minority will now analyze the report and take a decision.
The KPMG report on GRA-SML deal President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo released an over 300-page audit report on contracts and transactions between GRA and SML. After an initial decision to not release the full audit report by KPMG, the Office of the President announced in a statement dated May 22 that the report had been released despite Right To Information (RTI) exemptions raised earlier.
On April 24, 2024, President Akufo-Addo, received a request from the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), under section 18 of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) (RTI Act), for a copy of the KPMG report. The President had commissioned KPMG, on December 29, 2023, to undertake an inquiry to gain a clear understanding of the matters in controversy, and to be properly advised in taking the necessary decisions.
In justifying the earlier refusal to release the report, the presidency said the KPMG report comprised opinions, advice, deliberations, and recommendations that are integral to the President’s deliberative process and, therefore, qualifies as exempt information under section 5 (1) (a) and (b) (i) of the RTI Act. At the time, a detailed press statement outlining KPMG’s findings and recommendations, as well as the president’s directives to the Ministry of Finance and GRA was published.
Source: ghanaweb
