The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has announced that it will press corruption and corruption-related charges against six high-profile individuals, including former Finance Minister Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta, in connection with the controversial Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) revenue assurance contracts with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ministry of Finance.
According to the findings of the OSP’s investigation, the contracts awarded to SML were marred by “egregious statutory breaches, self-serving official patronage, and reckless financial decision-making,” leading to significant financial losses to the state.
The OSP stated that it intends to recover an amount of GHS 125 million from SML through a process of disgorgement of unjust enrichment. In a statement outlining the conclusion of the investigation, the OSP named the six individuals to be charged before the end of November 2025.
These include Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta, former Minister of Finance; Ernest Akori, former Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Finance; and Emmanuel Kofi Nti, former Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
Others include Rev. Amishadai Owusu Amoah, former Commissioner-General of the GRA; Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of GRA and current General Manager of SML Ghana Limited; and Kwadwo Damoah, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of GRA and sitting Member of Parliament for the Jaman South constituency
The Special Prosecutor indicated that the charges will cover multiple counts of corruption, abuse of public office, and causing financial loss to the state. “As part of the process, the office will seek to recover the financial loss caused to the Republic from the persons listed above,” the Special Prosecutor said.
The OSP’s investigation revealed that there was no genuine need for the SML contracts. It described the entire arrangement as “a case of unnecessary and wasteful pretend revenue assurance,” arguing that the contracts were “secured for SML through self-serving official patronage, sponsorship, and promotion based on false and unverified claims.”
According to the report, the payment structures were “set on automatic mode, detached from actual performance,” meaning that SML continued to receive payments from the public purse even when services were minimally performed or not performed at all.
Financial Manipulation and Losses.
The absence of an effective monitoring and verification system, the OSP said, left the Republic exposed to financial manipulation and losses. The OSP also explained that the GHS 125 million to be recovered from SML represents the estimated unjust enrichment derived from overpayments.
The figure, it stated, was adjusted based on quantum meruit—a legal doctrine designed to prevent unjust enrichment by allowing a party to be compensated for benefits conferred, even in the absence of a valid contract.
“In this context, the doctrine was applied to adjust the fair value of the investments made by SML in performing its obligations under the various contracts, even where those contracts were procured unlawfully or where services were not performed.”
Kissi Agyebeng, Special Prosecutor
These investments, according to the findings, included the establishment of two offices in Accra and Tema, the hiring and payment of staff, and the acquisition of vehicles, meters, and other monitoring systems.
The OSP described the circumstances surrounding SML’s involvement in the country’s revenue mobilization as “regrettable and symptomatic of reckless public sector decision-making.”
It emphasized that even though some GRA officials have since attempted to justify the arrangement, such “statements are feeble attempts at face-saving and do not extinguish the criminal culpability of the public officials who sponsored and promoted SML’s participation.”
Nonetheless, the OSP acknowledged the importance of genuine revenue assurance mechanisms in curbing leakages and improving state revenue. It commended the Ghana Revenue Authority for finally terminating the external price verification component of SML’s engagement in November 2024 following the KPMG audit.
“That termination should be made to lie where it fell, as SML showed classless non-performance in the service it was unlawfully engaged to perform.”
Kissi Agyebeng, Special Prosecutor
The Special Prosecutor further cautioned that while his office cannot select or recommend contractual partners for public institutions, any future engagements between SML, the Ministry of Finance, and the GRA must follow strict legal and regulatory standards.
“If in the estimation of the Ministry and GRA, there is a desire to retain SML in any other area, then a critical needs assessment must be conducted.
“All statutory and regulatory prior approvals must be obtained, and contractual obligations should be grounded in expertise, experience, and clear value-for-money verification and monitoring constructs.”
Kissi Agyebeng, Special Prosecutor
In a rare gesture, the OSP commended three Ghanaian journalists — Evans Aziamor-Mensah, Adwoa Adobea, and Manasseh Azure Awuni — for their outstanding investigative work that first exposed the irregularities surrounding the SML contracts. “Ghana is grateful for your service,” the statement concluded.
The impending charges against the former Finance Minister and other high-ranking officials are expected to mark one of the most consequential corruption cases in Ghana’s recent history.
For many, it will serve as a litmus test of the state’s resolve to enforce accountability and restore public confidence in public financial management.
READ ALSO: Renewable Energy; Ghana’s Present, Not the Future – VRA Engineer Asserts
