Former Head of Monitoring at the Forestry Commission and good governance advocate, Reverend Charles Owusu has launched a passionate defence of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML), warning that resistance to its operations, particularly in the petroleum downstream and upstream sectors, can only be explained by the influence of vested interests benefiting from Ghana’s long-standing revenue leakages.

In an interview with MyJoyonline, Rev. Owusu questioned the motives of those opposing SML’s deployment of technology to track and plug revenue losses in the extractive industry, especially when evidence points to its beneficial deployment.

“It is only a cartel that obviously benefits from the leakage that will oppose any solution to fix the rot,” he stated, adding, “Let’s be honest, how come the shortfalls vanished when SML plugged in their systems in the downstream sector? The data speaks for itself.”

According to him, the real opposition to SML’s efforts is not about legality or efficiency but about “saboteurs within the system who have always profited from the opacity and under-reporting in Ghana’s petroleum sector.”

Rev. Owusu expressed disbelief at the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) recent claim to have suspended SML’s upstream operations, stating that “the project has not even started. How can you suspend something that has not commenced?”

He cited a recent GRA letter and called into question its claims, particularly the assertion that SML was expanding its operations without approval. “Where did the GRA get the information about SML expanding into upstream unilaterally? This is serious and deserves clarity.”

The GRA, in an official statement, announced that it had suspended SML’s upstream petroleum revenue assurance operations, pending further review. But Rev. Owusu insists this action is premature and misleading, given that SML has not begun any upstream activity yet.

He urged Ghanaians to put the national interest above parochial considerations, stressing that “we must embrace home-grown solutions like SML if we are serious about fighting corruption and plugging revenue losses in critical sectors of the economy.”

Rev. Owusu pointed to evidence by Dr. Eric Boachie Yiadom, a Senior Lecturer and Projects Coordinator at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) that the SML solution deserves to be deployed in the national interest, or at worst to be tweaked to aid the national effort to combat revenue leakages.

According to Dr. Yiadom, the SML system represents the best technology to plug the persistent tax revenue leakages in Ghana.

Rev. Owusu warned that continued sabotage and resistance to technological oversight in the petroleum sector would only perpetuate Ghana’s economic losses, and serve the interests of a few powerful individuals.

“This country belongs to all of us. Let us stop protecting illegal profits and start protecting national resources. SML offers a real solution, and we must not let a few people hold Ghana back.”

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