OSP to File Charges Against Ofori Atta, 5 others over SML Deal
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) intends to file corruption and corruption-related charges against six individuals described as patrons, sponsors and promoters of the revenue assurance contracts between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).
According to him, the charges will be filed before the end of November 2025.
The suspects in the case include Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori Atta, former Finance Minister; Ernest Akore, Chef de Cabine to Ofori Atta; Emmanuel Kofi Nti, former Commissioner of GRA; Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former Commissioner General of GRA; Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of Customs Division of GRA and former General Manager of SML; and Kwadwo Damoah, former Commissioner of Customs Division of GRA and MP for JAMA South.
As part of the legal action, the OSP will seek to recover the financial loss caused to the Republic as well as a total amount of ¢125 million from SML by way of disgorgement of overpayment unjustly done at the expense of the Republic.
At a presser on October 30, 2025, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng affirmed that there were no grounds for contracting SML for a revenue assurance contract.
He said their findings suggested that the deal was secured through self-serving official patronage, sponsorship and promotion based on false and unverified claims.
“There was no genuine need for Contracting SML FOR the obligations it purported to perform.”
He revealed that their contract had statutory breaches as mandatory approvals were “wantonly disregarded” by relevant officials who acted with “increased and emboldened impunity”.
In addition, it found that there was no established financial management system for monitoring their verification to ensure that the Republic was obtaining the value for the money it was paying to SML.
The said payment channels to SML were found to be set on automatic mode, detached from actual performance, causing financial loss to the public.
He noted that a total of GH¢1,436,249,828.53 was paid by the government of Ghana as of December 2024.
These findings, he said, resulted from extensive surveillance, comprehensive review and analysis of hundreds of relevant documents at the Ministry of Finance, Ghana Revenue Authority and Public Procurement Authority.
Story by Hajara Fuseini
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