A member of the Movement for Change, Kofi Adusei Poku has described the Presidency’s refusal to release the full KPMG report on the contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) as pathetic.
He believes the refusal of the government to publish the report reaffirms President Akufo-Addo’s government’s ploy to cover up this damning SML scheme, as being speculated.
Speaking on Plan B FM morning show dubbed ‘Nkosuo Nsem’ with Kofi Sekyi, Adusei urged the president to release the full report by KPMG in other to clear doubts about corruption that has clouded his administration.
“Government cannot continue to shield corrupt officials whose actions had cost millions of cedis to the taxpayers. I will urge the president to release the full report for the sake of transparency and accountability. Refusal to release the report would mean the president himself is involved in some sort of shady deals to the detriment of the country” he stated
The President’s Office declined MFWA’s request for the full KPMG report on the GRA-SML contract on Wednesday, May 8.
Previously, on April 24, 2024, MFWA had requested a copy of the comprehensive KPMG Audit Report on the GRA-SML contract, invoking section 18 of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) (“RTI Act”). The report was commissioned by the President.
The presidency responded on Wednesday, stating, “Upon careful consideration and in accordance with section 5 (1) (a) and (b) (i) of the RTI Act, I regret to inform you that your request has been refused. Section 5 (1) (a) and (b) (i) states that information prepared for or submitted to the President or Vice President containing opinions, advice, deliberations, recommendations, minutes, or consultations, is exempt from disclosure and that disclosure of such information would compromise the integrity of the deliberative process by revealing the thought process, considerations, and influence on decision-making reserved for the highest offices of the land.”
The statement further clarified that the complete KPMG Audit Report contains elements crucial to the President’s deliberative process and hence qualifies as exempt information under section 5 (1) (a) and (b) (i).
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