Bright Simons, the Honourary Vice President of IMANI Africa, has drawn parallels between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) contract with Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML) and the contentious Agyapa deal.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile, Simons expressed skepticism about the expanded scope of SML’s responsibilities to include minerals and petroleum, likening it to Agyapa “in suit and tie.”
“We are completely certain that when you try to expand this SML service to cover the minerals and petroleum it was simply Agyapa [deal] in suit and tie,” he said.
“When Agyapa failed, somebody suggested that if we cannot get the percentage of the royalties that we wanted from every ounce of gold sold in Ghana, then we will do even more, we will add the oil as well and we will create a mechanism to get a certain percentage out of that,” he added.
He further questioned the feasibility of accurately assessing oil production and calculating royalties, particularly citing concerns about the reliability of data provided by oil companies.
Simons also criticized GRA’s reliance on mechanisms to determine royalty payments, highlighting the challenges associated with monitoring and regulating petroleum extraction and sales.
“It doesn’t make any sense to try and claim that because the Tullow and other companies are lying about the oil produced, you will use some mechanism to try and establish that. And for every barrel of oil produced, you will then be entitled to a percentage. what logic is that?” he quizzed.
Source: ghanaweb.live
