The Editor of Newscenta Newspaper, Elvis Darko, has called for a broader investigation into all revenue assurance contracts signed by successive governments, following the recent termination of agreements between the Government of Ghana and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML).
Mr. Darko said that revenue assurance companies have been engaged by different administrations over the years to help plug leakages in state revenue collection systems.
He argued that if the Office of the Special Proscutor (OSP) has found the operations of SML to be unnecessary or problematic, then similar contracts across sectors such as energy and telecommunications should also come under scrutiny.
“If we want to do this SML thing, and we think we want to save the state some money, then it is not only SML we have to go after. Every revenue assurance contract must be looked at,” he stated.
Mr. Darko further explained that while revenue assurance companies can play an important role in improving state revenue collection, the terms of engagement must be fair and transparent.
According to him, payment arrangements for such companies should not be based on gross revenue already collected by state agencies before the companies’ intervention. Instead, he proposed that compensation be tied to the additional revenue generated as a direct result of their work.
If the company is collecting an amount of money before the services of a revenue assurance company are engaged, then you cannot pay the new company with the amount the state agency has already collected,” he said.
“It should rather be on the profit that the revenue assurance company has helped the agency to collect. If we do that, we will get a better revenue assurance system.”
Mr. Darko’s comments come in the wake of President John Dramani Mahama’s directive on October 31, 2025, ordering the termination of all contracts between the Government of Ghana and SML, following the conclusion of the OSP’s investigation into the company’s dealings with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
