The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has formally charged former Finance Minister Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta and seven others with 78 counts of corruption and procurement-related offences in a case that has rocked Ghana’s political and financial institutions.

The case, titled The Republic v Kenneth Ofori-Atta and 7 Others, centers on a multi-year scheme to unlawfully award lucrative government contracts to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), formerly known as Strategic Mobilisation Enhancement Limited. The contracts, allegedly secured through patronage and false claims, covered services such as transaction audits, petroleum measurement, and minerals verification.

Key Accused Persons:

Kenneth Ofori-Atta (A1): Former Minister of Finance 
Ernest Darko Akore (A2): Chef de Cabinet to the Minister of Finance 
Emmanuel Kofi Nti (A3): Former Commissioner-General, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) 
Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah (A4): Former Commissioner-General, GRA 
Isaac Crentsil (A5): Former Commissioner, Customs Division 
Kwadwo Damoah (A6): Former Commissioner, Customs Division 
Evans Adusei (A7): CEO and controlling mind of SML 
SML (A8): The company at the center of the scandal

Allegations:

The accused are said to have conspired to create a criminal enterprise that manipulated procurement processes to favor SML.
Contracts were awarded without genuine need, bypassing mandatory parliamentary and procurement authority approvals.
Payments to SML were allegedly placed on automatic disbursement, detached from actual performance or verification.
The scheme reportedly led to a financial loss of GHS1,436,249,828.53 to the Republic of Ghana.

The OSP describes the actions of the accused as a wilful abuse of public office, with SML allegedly pretending to perform services under contracts that lacked oversight and accountability.

This landmark case is expected to test Ghana’s anti-corruption framework and could have far-reaching implications for public sector governance and procurement reform.