Solomon Owusu, senior communicator for the Movement for Change (MfC), has launched a blistering condemnation of the SML deal and called for a bounty on former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, linking his absence from the country to the alleged financial improprieties tied to the scandal.
His comments add to growing public anger over the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) contract and its implications for national revenue and justice.
Owusu questioned the entire basis for SML’s presence in the petroleum monitoring space, stressing that both the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) already had a functioning Digital Monitoring System (DMS).
“If you have ever engaged yourself in the petroleum sector, nobody will convince you that we need any entity called SML,” he said, expressing strong doubt that any sector insider would argue the necessity of SML.
He argued that SML’s involvement represents an orchestrated effort to siphon public funds, saying, “They came to create, loot, and share. And that is why Ken Ofori-Atta is out of this country.”
Owusu lashed out at those defending Ken Ofori-Atta, including legal experts who have advised against his return to Ghana. “You are part of the nation wreckers – they must be told in the face,” he declared, accusing them of being complicit in the broader collapse of accountability.
He compared Ofori-Atta’s situation to the incarceration of petty criminals, expressing indignation at the unequal application of justice.
“People go and steal bananas, steal sheep or goats and they are in Nsawam. Some others go and take out billions, and you come and tell us that they shouldn’t come back and face the law. You are all part of the scheme”
Solomon Owusu, Senior Communicator for the Movement for Change
Demand For Bounty
The claim that Ofori-Atta is medically unfit to return was dismissed by Owusu, who referenced the recent public appearance of Nana Asante Bediatuo, who was also once declared seriously ill, to cast doubt on such explanations.
“Has anybody seen Ken Ofori-Atta? For us to believe that outburst that is going on?” he asked and reiterated a direct call he issued to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
“I have told the OSP that the earlier he puts a bounty on the head of Ken Ofori-Atta, the better. Either he does that or I don’t take him seriously.
“He should put a bounty on the head of Ken Ofori-Atta and I’ll be in the States tomorrow with the first flight looking for Ken Ofori-Atta because of the amount of money that together with his accomplices, they have taken from this country”
Solomon Owusu, Senior Communicator for the Movement for Change
Owusu tied the scandal to broader consequences on national development, linking it directly to the future of Ghanaian youth, including his own daughter. He used his daughter and the rest of the 600,000 candidates writing their BECE today as a case in point, accusing Ken Ofori-Atta and his “cabal” for the uncertain future all the children now face.
He posited that the security of the children’s future rests now on whether or not the stolen money is retrieved. He challenged citizens to go beyond intellectual debates and embrace the urgency of financial justice.
“Don’t let us make it always about intellectualism. This is about our money that has been stolen and the people responsible. Daylight thievery, daylight robbery”
Solomon Owusu, Senior Communicator for the Movement for Change
SML’s Incompetence
Owusu raised specific concerns over SML Managing Director Christian Sottie’s inability to explain the company’s core services or its revenue model during an interview with investigative journalist Manasseh Azure. “What is he managing?” he asked.
He cited Sottie’s admission that SML does not engage in underreporting detection, dilution analysis, or diversion monitoring – despite these being their stated responsibilities. “So what were we paying SML for?” he lamented.
Owusu highlighted the centrality of the petroleum pumps to tax collection and suggested that if SML had no presence there, it had no legitimate role being contracted by the government in the first place. “It was only about ‘create loot and share.’” Solomon Owusu reiterated.
He ended by reinforcing that if justice is not pursued vigorously, then “all those in Nsawam must be released because the net effect of their crime comes nowhere near what we have been subjected to under the last eight years.”
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