The Fourth Estate’s investigation on shady SML deal shortlisted for AIJC African Investigative Journalist of the Year Awards

The Fourth Estate’s investigative report, The GHS 3 Billion Lie and the Billion Dollar Contract, has been shortlisted for the 2024 African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award.

The awards, scheduled for October 31, form part of AIJC Africa’s largest annual gathering of investigative journalists in South Africa and recognises excellence in investigative journalism across the continent.

“On behalf of the team of judges for the AIJC African Investigative Journalist of the Year Awards, it gives us great pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as a finalist,” stated Gwen Lister, convenor of judges for the awards.

The 2024 edition marks the 20th anniversary of the conference and would serve as a platform for journalists across the continent and beyond to network, share groundbreaking work, and learn from experts on issues such as climate change, artificial intelligence and media sustainability.

The Fourth Estate’s investigation uncovered a shady sole-sourced revenue assurance contract awarded to Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) Ghana, in the downstream petroleum sector despite having no prior experience in the field. The company claimed to have saved the nation GHS 3 billion in potential revenue losses but failed to provide any supporting evidence for this figure. The report also revealed that SML was awarded an expanded contract worth nearly USD 100 million annually to monitor revenue in the upstream petroleum and gold mining sectors.

Following the publication, President Nana Akufo-Addo suspended and tasked audit firm, KPMG, to conduct further investigations into the matter. KPMG confirmed The Fourth Estate’s findings and recommended the contract’s possible cancellation and renegotiation of the cost.

While the Ghana Revenue Authority has cancelled the external price verification and the transaction audit part of the contract, worth USD450 million for five years, the USD 100 million annual audit contract for the upstream petroleum sector was suspended indefinitely.

Additionally, five civil society organisations have sued the government to retrieve the USD141 million that SML has received.

Meanwhile, another investigation by The Fourth Estate, Dangerous endorsements: Exposé on herbal medicine advertising in Ghana, popularly referred to as MACOFA, though not nominated, received high commendation for being one of the great entries received this year.

That report exposed how the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC) certified a fake herbal practitioner and licensed a fictitious company, Krodwoa Herbal Enterprise, that produced a fake and unlicensed herbal product named Macofa Herbal Mixture, made from three soft drinks—Malt, Coke and Fanta.

This certification violated the TMPC Act, which requires applicants to have proven experience and endorsements from recognised herbal associations before being licensed.

To test the system, The Fourth Estate sought advertising slots for this product without obtaining certification from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), on eight major media platforms including radio, television and newspapers, in four regions of Ghana, all without FDA approval.

The FDA has since sanctioned 39 radio stations to the tune of almost GHS1 million for unapproved advertisement.