According to KPMG’s audit, SML paid a total of GHS 1,061,054,778 in fees under the downstream petroleum audit services contract with the GRA between 2018 and the suspension date.
Additionally, the audit firm observed that the contracts between SML and GRA employed a variable fee structure as its pricing mechanism, which is not normal for such transaction monitoring services, which are usually priced using a fixed fee model.
The audit discovered that there were qualitative benefits despite the significant fees paid to SML. These included real-time electronic monitoring of petroleum product outflows and partial monitoring of inflows at depots where SML had installed flowmeters, which acted as a deterrent for under-declarations.