GRA-SML saga: NPA boss to award contract to a new company - Report

A few months after the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid, raised grave questions about the potential duplicity of a revenue contract between the revenue assurance company, Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML), and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), he appears to have made a sudden U-turn.

According to the NPA CEO at the time, some management members of the NPA had raised concerns about possible duplication of roles when they learned that SML Ghana had been contracted to undertake automatic tank gauging, already done by GRA.

"Potentially, we consider it (the SML deal) duplicitous," the NPA CEO said of the company created in February 2017 to boost the Revenue deal a year or two later.

On whether a company like SML Ghana was needed in the petroleum revenue tracking system, the NPA CEO said the system is already robust without SML Ghana's involvement.

"The NPA has a system that tracks the lifting and transportation of fuel products from the depots to the tanks of the oil marketing companies. With that system, the NPA can tell the volumes of petroleum products in all the fuel stations across Ghana at any given time," he revealed.

But a letter dated May 20, 2024, and signed by Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid, inviting stakeholders for an engagement on May 23, 2024, defeats his earlier stance and calls his credibility into question.

The letter reads in part: "The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) wishes to invite you to participate in a presentation by Fields Limited, which seeks to provide an End-to-End Primary Supply Assurance and Management System for the Petroleum Downstream Industry."

The technology aims to provide a tailored solution to meet the needs of all stakeholders in terms of ensuring the visibility of supplies of petroleum products in the country, including stock monitoring and management, as well as addressing risks associated with the supply, trading, and financing of petroleum products.

The presentation is scheduled as follows:

Date: Thursday, May 23, 2024

Time: 11 am

Venue: NPA Head Office, Dzorwulu

Questions have been raised as to why there is a sudden change in position when the CEO had earlier raised concerns about the duplicity of the project, among others.

What has happened to the robust system of the NPA, and was it the case that the NPA was not in a position to track all petroleum products as he claimed earlier?

Who is HFIElD, and what is their experience? And who is the person behind the company, as well as their experience?

What is the need for a new service provider at a time when the GRA already has an end-to-end revenue assurance system?