The Office of the Special Prosecutor has officially charged former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML), and six others for corruption and corruption-related offences.
In all, there are 78 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences. The other accused are Ernest Darko Akore, aged 67, Chef de Cabinet to the Minister of Finance, Emmanuel Kofi Nti (66), former Commissioner-General of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah (64), former Commissioner-General of GRA.
The rest are Isaac Crentsil (63), former Commissioner of the Customs Division of GRA, Kwadwo Damoah (65), former Commissioner of the Customs Division of GRA, Evans Adusei (62), beneficial owner, CEO, and controlling mind of the accused company, and the beneficiary company itself, Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML), formerly Strategic Mobilisation Enhancement Ltd.
President John Mahama, on October 31, ordered the immediate termination of all contracts with the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) following the completion of an investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
According to the government, the move forms part of the government’s commitment to accountability and transparency in the management of public resources.
It follows months of scrutiny over the SML contracts, which became the subject of a corruption and corruption-related offences probe by the OSP.
The Finance Minister has been tasked to ensure that the termination process is carried out in full compliance with existing financial and legal procedures.
This latest move by the OSP comes after unsuccessful attempts to get the former Minister, who’s outside the country, to present himself physically for investigations.
The OSP has said efforts are underway to extradite Mr Ofori-Atta to face justice.
The case details a sophisticated and long-running alleged scheme where high-level officials are accused of colluding with a private company to defraud the Ghanaian state of over GHS 1.4 billion through illegally awarded contracts and payments for services that were not performed.
Core Allegations & The “Criminal Enterprise”
The prosecution alleges a long-running conspiracy (described as a “criminal enterprise”) from 2017 to 2024, designed to illegally award lucrative government contracts to SML. The key facets of this enterprise were:
Illegal Procurement: The awarding of contracts to SML through the single-source method without the legally required prior approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Board and, for larger contracts, Parliament.
False Pretences: Securing contracts based on wilful misrepresentations about SML’s capabilities, including false claims about its technical expertise, financial backing, and ownership of proprietary technology from a multinational partner (COTECNA S.A.).
Payment for No Service: Placing SML on an “automatic payment mode” and causing the state to pay massive sums without any validation, evidence of performance, or actual work done.
Abuse of Office: Public officials corruptly using their positions for the private profit of SML and its owner, Evans Adusei.
The charges also highlight the contracts and financial losses to the State. The charges relate to several contracts awarded to SML, leading to immense alleged financial losses for the state:
Potential Future Loss: An additional contract for upstream petroleum and minerals audit, worth an estimated US$2,799,604,864.71, was signed but halted before payments began.
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