The Special Prosecutor (SP), Kissi Agyebeng, has filed two witness statements in the case in which former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and others have been charged for allegedly causing financial loss of more than GH¢1.4 billion in the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) contract saga.
In court, the SP told the trial High Court that efforts were underway to file the remaining documents he would rely on to prove his case against the accused persons.
Updating the court on efforts made so far to serve the former Finance Minister and Ernest Darko Akore — an aide to Ofori-Atta during his tenure as Minister of Finance— with the charge sheet since they are currently not in the country.
In respect of Ofori-Atta, he said since the former minister’s apprehension by the United States authorities on January 6, 2026, he has been in custody, adding that the first proceedings against him are in respect of immigration violation, which commenced in January.
He further told the court that the second proceedings against him commenced this week in respect of the extradition request.
He said his office would inform the court about the accused persons’ presence in court at the next adjourned date.
The case has been adjourned to March 26, 2026.
Accused persons
Among the accused persons are Col. Kwadwo Damoah (retd), a former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), who is also the Member of Parliament for Jaman South.
The other accused persons in the case are Emmanuel Kofi Nti and Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah— both former Commissioner-Generals of the GRA, Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA, and Evans Adusei, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SML, and SML itself.
They are facing 75 counts of causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit, willful oppression, directly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of procurement and entering into an agreement with a financial commitment binding the government for more than one financial year without prior authorisation by Parliament.
They have pleaded not guilty and have since been admitted to bail.
The criminal case against six top government officials stemmed from a revenue assurance contract awarded to SML by the previous government, which has become a subject of controversy and numerous allegations, leading to its eventual cancellation by the government following a directive by President John Dramani Mahama.
The criminal case also followed public interest and discussions about attempts to extradite Mr Ofori-Atta, whom the OSP accused of running from justice, although the former Finance Minister insists that he had nothing to hide but was in the USA for medical treatment.
Facts
In a charge sheet signed by the Special Prosecutor and filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court yesterday, the OSP alleged that the accused persons hatched a “criminal enterprise” to use the SML contract to fleece the nation.
“The criminal enterprise was commenced in 2017 by the first, third, seventh and eighth accused persons, with the other accused persons joining the adventure at various times.
The criminal enterprise was characterised by no genuine need for contracting the eighth accused company for the obligations it purported to perform, and the contracts were secured for the eighth company through self-serving patronage and promotion by the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth accused persons based on false and unverified claims,” he stated.
Also, the OSP alleged that the six former government officials created an avenue for SML to “largely pretend to perform the services under the various contracts, leading to immense financial loss to the republic of about one billion, four hundred and thirty-six million, two hundred and forty-nine thousand, eight hundred and twenty-eight cedis, fifty-three pesewas (GH¢1,436,249,828.53),” the OSP added.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh