It’s a brand-new year and already we all seem to have hit the ground running in our various fields of endeavour.
I guess Happy New Year to you ardent readers of this column, is in order. Welcome to a new year full of possibilities. For those of you who have already made your resolutions, I wish you good luck. Mine is still- Let God lead!
Well, there is currently a craze for ‘a-thon’ in the country, which seems to have been engendered by the impressive showing of the person some have described as the Yaa Asantewaa of our time.
The Yaa Asantewaa of old was an intellectual, a politician, a human rights activist, a queen and a war leader. She became famous for commanding the Ashanti Kings in the War to protect the Golden Stool, to defend and protect the sovereign independence of the Golden Stool- Wikipedia.
The Yaa Asantewaa of our time, real name; Afua Owusu Asantewaa Aduonum, better known as Afua Asantewaa, is a Ghanaian media personality, journalist, and entrepreneur. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Askof Productions Ltd, organizers of the Ghana Outstanding Women Awards, the Pose For Africa Models Reality Show, and Miss Kidi Ghana- Wikipedia.
The similarity is clear, they have many sides. And one thing is common- daring to do what others dread. So, it came to pass, that Afua Asantewaa took the nation by storm with that audacious attempt to break a Guinness World Record for longest singing, otherwise known as Sing-a-thon, held by India’s Sunil Waghmare.
The verdict is yet to be announced, but what is already known is that since her attempt, many others have also publicized one form of a-thon or the other- Cook-a-thon, Stand-a-thon, Sit-a-thon, Walk-a-thon, drink-a-thon, Dance-a-thon, Write-a-thon, even sex-a-thon. A one-year-old boy is also said to have started Art-a-thon. Master Ace-Liam, is attempting to break the existing record as the Youngest Male Artist. Now we know that the popular one- Marathon has ‘relatives.’
Collinsdictionary.com explains a-thon as “an event marked by length or endurance.” This prompted me to find out what is in this for the record seekers. If Milo Marathon winners get some rewards, then Guinness World Record should be huge. I started my search with the notion that there must be some huge financial gain in there. I did not get what I wanted to read.
This is what ChatGPT said – “While achieving a Guinness World Record can bring attention and recognition, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee direct financial gains. The benefits of breaking a world record often depend on the nature of the achievement, the level of public interest it generates, and how effectively individuals or organizations capitalize on the accomplishment.”
Not even cartons of Guinness. This, for five or ten sleepless nights?
The sleeplessness of an a-thon
Any keen follower of this column would have realised by now that I value sleep. That’s because it is healthy to do so. And I have pointed to the consequences of depriving one’s self of sleep- Death. Available literature from health experts supports this view.
No wonder all the pursuers of a-thons are given round the clock medical attention. That’s because the adult body requires at least seven hours of a good night’s sleep daily, the absence of which could prove fatal.
Thank God we have been spared any such misfortune in the cases of Afua Asantewaa (Sing-a-thon) and Failatu Abdul Razak (Cook-a-thon). Congratulations ladies. You’ve made us proud!!
The GRA-SML deal
Its exposure took the nation by storm, literally. That’s because of the source- The Fourth Estate and one name; Manasseh Azure Awuni, that was associated with it. The details seemed complicated, but the gist was simple- Strategic Management Limited (SML) had ‘lied’ about how much its contract with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) had raked in for the state- GHC3 billion.
Manasseh and co, contended that the correct amount is GHC2.4 billion. They also alleged that SML receives $100 million per annum from the contract whose objective is “to enhance revenue assurance in the downstream petroleum sector, the upstream petroleum production and minerals and metals resources value chain.”
That’s petroleum sector jargons that did not make any sense to me upon first reading. But the accused organisations, who know how serious the allegations by The Fourth Estate are, did not take it kindly. They reacted.
“We challenge Fourth Estate to produce any contract anywhere that is for a 10-year period. The 5th PPA Board at its 46th Board meeting in a letter referenced PPA/CEO/09/2286/23 approved a contract duration of five (5) years. Again, it’s NOT TRUE that SML takes $100 million annually from its contract. The Upstream operations of the company has not yet begun, and no revenue has been realized.
No monies have been paid to SML; the $100 million per year payment to SML that has been alleged is purely a figment of the author’s imagination and not factual. SML‘s engagements with GRA is solely a risk reward contract. GRA invests nothing in the entire investment chain. There is no cost commitment from the GRA. SML is not exempted from the payment of duties and taxes.” – Strategic Management Limited’s Public Relations Department wrote in a press release.
Now the Ghana Revenue Authority.
“GRA restate that the consolidated contract which is a risk-reward contract seeks to bring efficiency in Revenue Assurance Services provided to GRA. SML per the contract is required to provide resources for the execution of the contract. By implication, if there is no value addition, SML is not paid. In short, the principle of risk and reward is the fulcrum of the contract.
The Contract is for five (5) years and is performance-based and approved under Section 40 of the Public Procurement Act, Act 663, 2003. The Board and Management affirm that all legal and proper processes were followed in procuring the services of SML. SML solely financed the capital expenditures and cutting-edge technology that is employed in the monitoring and auditing services provided to GRA in the Downstream Petroleum Sector.”
Then the Presidential intervention.
“The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has appointed KPMG, the reputable Audit, Tax and Advisory Services firm, to conduct an immediate audit into the transaction between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilization Ghana Ltd (SML),…President Akufo-Addo has tasked KPMG to complete the assignment in two weeks, and submit appropriate recommendations to him…and has also directed the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority to suspend the performance of the contract, pending the submission of the audit report, including any payments presently envisaged under its terms.”- Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the presidency wrote.
At this point, I got into two minds about the expose. However, the intervention by Franklyn Cudjoe and Ben Boakye, through a joint statement they issued in the name of IMANI Africa and African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), supposedly neutral professional bodies, stripped the contract of all the seeming complexities in my mind. They wrote:
“From the two sets of data, we observe that;
- The claims by GRA that SML’s intervention yielded about 100 million litters monthly consumption increase cannot be supported by their own data.
- The actual growth between 2018/2019 and 2020/2021 was a bout 62.95 million from NPA data and 60.15 million from the GRA Data.
- In the 2021/2022 year, the total consumption of products in the country declined by 5% and 7% according to NPA and GRA respectively.
- In the statement issued by GRA, the Authority did not hint of the evident consumption decline in 2022. We find this disingenuous and deliberate to sustain the claim that SML’s intervention has yielded significant results.
- The silence of the Minister of finance, the one who instructed the extension into being, is a testament that his action was not informed by data.
From the examined data we can state clearly that;
- There is no 33% consumption increase that can be attributed to SML. The consumption growth for the two-year period cited by GRA saw actual growth of 16.5% (8.25% average), which is not extraordinary, comparing it with the growth trends.
- The NPA data is more superior for revenue assurance and indeed that is what GRA uses for revenue purposes.
- The GHS 3billion quoted by GRA is inaccurate and cannot be traced to the data sources; GRA and NPA.
Despite this, SML has received gross payments between GHS700 million and GHS750 million thus far. The disparity between the purported benefits and the actual data used for revenue accounting shows that amounts paid to SML was needless and could have been utilised for other development efforts. End of quote.
When he was interviewed on TV3‘s Ghana Tonight, about the necessity of the KPMG probe, Mr. Ben Boakye said there is no need, because “we have done the work already.”
It’s time to go
Somehow, SML has not found the need to respond to the IMANI-ACEP expose. Hence, if the analysis and conclusion by the two policy think tanks, reproduced above, are anything to go by, then I re-state my conviction that in this world eh!, if you don’t have a friend, forget it.
“True friends are great riches.” — Unknown. Actually, Sarah Dessen, an American novelist, takes it a notch higher- “Life is an ugly, awful place to not have a best friend.”
It is only a highly-placed friend who can create such a cool opportunity for you to make money without losing any sleep like the pursuers of a-thons.
Another thing. As someone with Public Relations interests, I can’t help but say that whoever was contracted by SML to handle media relations in the wake of this crisis deserves a pat on the shoulder- I hear it was handled externally. Even though the odds seemed against them, SML kept coming out. First, the press release and subsequent media tour to show and tell their side of the story. Then the ‘we are ready for KPMG’ disposition.
“We welcome the directive and the decision to appoint KPMG to conduct an immediate audit of the contract. SML awaits the results of the audit, as it will help establish a clear and accurate picture of our operations. We hope that the report’s findings will be made public, allowing for transparency and accountability,” they wrote in reaction to the President’s directive.
Since then, many anti-corruption crusaders like the former Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, have pointed out that it was wrong for President Akufo-Addo to appoint a private firm to undertake the audit, when the Audit Service as well as the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), could do that at no extra cost to the state.
Well, as we wait to see what becomes of the numerous calls for President Akufo-Addo to abort the directive to KPMG to audit the contract, it is heartwarming that Parliament has promised to investigate the deal.
What remains to be seen is whether their findings will corroborate what ACEP and IMANI observed.
Yasou- That’s goodbye in Greek.
Let God lead! Follow Him directly, not through any human.
The writer is the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Columnist of the Year- 2022. He is the author of two books whose contents share knowledge on how anyone desirous of writing like him can do so. Eric can be reached via email eric.ayettey@mediageneralgh.com
