Manasseh Azure Awuni, the Founding Editor-In-Chief of the Fourth Estate, raised questions about the value additions provided by Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited (SML) to the upstream petroleum and gold production sectors.
He urged interviewers of GRA or Ministry of Finance officials defending the contract to inquire about the specific value additions brought by SML.
“If you ever get to interview any GRA official or any Ministry of Finance official who is defending this answer, just ask the simple question – What value additions is SML bringing to the upstream petroleum sector? What value addition is SML bringing to the gold production sector?”
Responding to the GRA's statement claiming that SML's consolidated contract gives them over $100 million annually based on value addition, Mr. Azure contested the accuracy of the claim.
According to him, the extended contract by the Finance Ministry doesn't require SML to contribute value addition to the sectors but rather ensures payment based on production.
“The contract says they are going to be paid $0.75 per barrel of the 160,000 barrels of oil Ghana produced, so as long as there is production and as long as SML claims to be monitoring, they are going to take money,” he stated.
He clarified that SML is set to earn $120,000 for monitoring the 160,000 to 170,000 barrels of oil produced daily and 0.75% of gold production in the gold sector, emphasizing that this payment is unrelated to any value addition.
He concluded that the only scenario where SML won't earn money is if Ghana halts oil or gold production.