A relentless investigative pursuit that began in 2023 has culminated in criminal charges against Ghana’s former Finance Minister and five others, exposing what prosecutors describe as a masterfully crafted scheme that cost the nation GH¢506 million for services either minimally performed or never delivered at all.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) announced Thursday it will prosecute Ken Ofori Atta and former Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) officials before November ends, marking the conclusion of a two year journey from journalistic exposé to courtroom accountability. Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng revealed overwhelming evidence of procurement fraud, statutory violations, and deliberate circumvention of safeguards designed to protect public resources.
Manasseh Azure Awuni and his Fourth Estate colleagues Evans Aziamor Mensah and Adwoa Adobea Owusu published their explosive findings in December 2023 after spending a year investigating Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited. The journalists discovered the company had fabricated claims about saving Ghana GH¢3 billion while receiving up to GH¢24 million monthly under questionable contracts with the Finance Ministry and GRA.
The investigation found SML had falsely claimed its services stopped underreporting, diversion, and dilution of fuel products when evidence showed the company performed none of those critical functions. When confronted during interviews at their Tema control room, SML Managing Director Christian Sottie distanced himself from the GH¢3 billion savings claim, telling reporters he knew nothing about website matters even though the false figure remained prominently displayed on company platforms.
SML admitted its claims were fabricated and scrubbed them from its website the same day Fourth Estate journalists presented their evidence. Yet the contracts continued, payments flowed automatically, and Finance Minister Ofori Atta moved forward with plans to expand SML operations into upstream petroleum and gold mining sectors despite the exposed falsehoods.
The journalists filed a formal complaint with the OSP on December 18, 2023, triggering the preliminary investigation that would eventually uncover systematic corruption reaching the highest levels of government. President Nana Akufo Addo ordered the contracts suspended and commissioned KPMG to audit the arrangements, though the OSP investigation would ultimately paint a far more damning picture than the accounting firm’s report.
Agyebeng described the KPMG audit as placatory in material respects, suggesting it attempted to sanitize SML’s role by ignoring the company’s lack of independent tools and redundancy alongside existing systems. The Special Prosecutor found SML lacked both technical competence and basic infrastructure to execute transaction audits and external price verification services it was contracted to perform.
OSP investigators established that between July 2018 and December 2024, SML received GH¢1.43 billion through contracts signed in June 2018, January 2019, and April 2019. The company consistently failed to submit required invoices or produce expected audit reports, yet payments were made automatically without verification or reference to actual work completed.
The arrangements became even more troubling after June 2020 when GRA replaced Customs Classification and Valuation Reports with Bills of Entry, raising obvious questions about what SML was actually working on. By May 2021, SML itself admitted in correspondence to GRA that it still lacked the Application Programming Interface connectivity to the Integrated Customs Management System needed to perform audit work.
Despite lacking connectivity, capacity, and credible work product, SML was paid GH¢287 million between April 2020 and December 2023 for auditing a service that had been discontinued. The OSP characterized this as payments on automatic mode, detached from actual performance and made without effective supervision by GRA or the Finance Ministry.
In what Agyebeng called a remarkable act of defiance, GRA leadership under former Commissioner General Ammishaddai Owusu Amoah directly contravened presidential orders. On January 2, 2024, President Akufo Addo ordered all SML contracts suspended pending KPMG audit results. Instead of complying, GRA made a payment to SML the very next day with Owusu Amoah’s personal approval.
The investigation revealed Ofori Atta served as chief patron and promoter of the scheme, using his ministerial influence to push SML’s engagement through reckless decision making and flagrant statutory violations. When the Public Procurement Authority rejected initial applications citing SML’s lack of capacity and experience, officials simply resubmitted modified versions rather than accepting that no legitimate basis existed for the contracts.
Facing charges alongside Ofori Atta are Owusu Amoah and Emmanuel Kofi Nti, both former GRA Commissioner Generals, along with GRA officials Isaac Crentsil and Kwadwo Damoah. Ernest Akore, who served as Chef de Cabinet to Ofori Atta, will also be prosecuted. Crentsil’s trajectory proved particularly revealing as he retired from his customs commissioner position and immediately took appointment as SML General Manager, coloring his prior official actions as inducement for future rewards.
The OSP will recover GH¢125 million from SML representing unjust enrichment the company obtained unfairly at the state’s expense. This recovery amount applies the legal principle of quantum meruit, ensuring fair compensation for limited infrastructure investments SML actually made while acknowledging the contracts were fundamentally unlawful and services largely unperformed.
Agyebeng emphasized the investigation has already saved Ghana GH¢1.25 billion in potential unjustified payments that would have continued through October 2028 had the OSP not intervened in June 2025. Accountability extends beyond prosecution to prevention, stopping illegal financial outflows before they drain additional public resources.
President John Mahama terminated all remaining SML contracts on October 31, 2025, following the OSP findings. The decisiveness contrasts sharply with earlier hesitation, as candidate Mahama had promised during the 2024 campaign that his administration would not recognize the SML agreement yet allowed portions to continue operating for seven months after taking office.
The scandal exposed fundamental vulnerabilities in Ghana’s procurement system where determined actors could circumvent safeguards through persistence and patronage. Despite clear rejections from the Public Procurement Authority based on lack of capacity, contracts proceeded with apparent impunity, revealing enforcement failures extending beyond the procurement authority itself.
Former Auditor General Daniel Domelevo has questioned whether six prosecutions adequately capture the scope of wrongdoing in a scheme this sophisticated. Complex procurement fraud typically involves multiple actors at different levels from those initiating questionable contracts to those approving, implementing, and benefiting from them. Limiting accountability to six individuals might miss accomplices who played supporting yet still criminal roles.
Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu criticized the OSP for allowing Ofori Atta to leave Ghana before charges were filed, arguing the office had ample time to act swiftly when journalists first raised concerns before the former minister departed for medical treatment abroad. Ofori Atta was declared a fugitive in February 2025 after failing to honor OSP summonses, with his fugitive status reinstated in June after again failing to appear despite promises from lawyers.
The former Finance Minister remains under Interpol Red Notice as the OSP pursues extradition from the United States where he has been spotted walking freely. His lawyers insist he will appear in court if charged, claiming he fears no prosecution though his flight from Ghana suggests otherwise.
Beyond the immediate financial losses, the scandal carries substantial opportunity costs representing funds that could have financed genuine revenue enhancement initiatives. The damage extends to investor confidence as revelations of deep seated corruption at ministerial level undermine Ghana’s reputation for relatively strong governance within West Africa.
The Fourth Estate journalists faced retaliation for their work as SML filed a GH¢10 million defamation lawsuit seeking damages for alleged reckless and malicious reporting. The company demanded retractions, apologies, and perpetual injunctions against further publication despite having admitted the core falsehoods the investigation exposed.
The Finance Ministry initially refused Manasseh Azure Awuni’s Right to Information request for copies of upstream petroleum contracts, citing exemptions under the RTI Act. This attempted concealment proved futile as the OSP investigation eventually accessed all relevant documentation, revealing the full extent of irregularities officials sought to hide.
Manasseh has consistently maintained the best resolution would be complete termination of SML arrangements, arguing no evidence exists showing the company held politically affiliated oil marketing companies accountable for diversion, dilution, and underreporting that rob Ghana of substantial revenue. His position has been vindicated by both the KPMG audit findings and the more comprehensive OSP investigation.
The case demonstrates journalism’s vital role in exposing corruption that official oversight mechanisms failed to detect or address. Without Fourth Estate’s year long investigation and formal complaint triggering OSP action, the automatic payments would have continued unabated, draining billions more from state coffers while delivering minimal value.
As prosecutions move forward, the fundamental question remains whether Ghana’s institutions can prevent similar schemes in the future. The SML scandal revealed that procurement rules, audit requirements, parliamentary oversight, and even direct presidential orders proved insufficient to stop determined actors from exploiting their positions for private gain.
The charges expected before month’s end will test whether accountability mechanisms can deliver consequences matching the magnitude of abuse. For Ghanaians watching this unfold, the outcome will signal whether the nation has truly turned a corner on high level corruption or whether this represents merely another cycle of exposure without lasting reform.
