The Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) says it has helped Ghana save more than GHS 2.6 billion and US$173 million from the cancellation of the upstream and mineral sector components of the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) revenue assurance deal.
This amount the OSP noted that the savings are in addition to the GHS 1.2 billion already reported after the main SML contract was terminated.
It stated that the additional savings were from avoiding payments tied to crude oil and gold export monitoring services that were never implemented.
“These contracts, which were based on a variable fee structure linked to exports of crude oil and gold, would have cost the State approximately US$173 million for crude oil and GHS 2.6 billion for gold exports over five years,” the OSP noted in its statement.
The OSP indicated that SML did not commence operations in these sectors because the arrangement coincided with an ongoing KPMG audit and criminal investigations initiated by the OSP.
Investigation conducted by the OSP discovered that Ghana exports about 3.85 million barrels of crude per month, with SML’s fee set at US$0.75 per barrel.
If the deal had not been cancelled, it would have meant that the company would have been entitled to about US2.89 million monthly and US34.65 million annually, amounting to US$173 million over five years.
Gold exports were also valued at over GHS 5.8 billion per month and would have attracted a 0.75% service fee, costing the State GHS 43.7 million monthly and GHS 525 million annually.
By: Rainbwradioonline.com/Ghana