The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has arrested several high-profile former public officials and executives of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd. (SML), intensifying its probe into controversial revenue assurance contracts signed between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML.
Among those detained are Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, the immediate past Commissioner-General of the GRA; Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of Customs and now General Manager at SML; and Christian Tetteh Sottie, ex-Technical Advisor at the GRA, now serving as Managing Director of SML.
According to sources close to the investigation, the arrests follow ongoing inquiries into “suspected corruption and corruption-related offences” surrounding multiple contracts worth over GH¢1 billion awarded to SML without full compliance with the country’s procurement laws. The contracts were intended to enhance revenue assurance in the downstream petroleum sector and other critical value chains.
The suspects were detained on Monday night after failing to meet bail conditions. They were taken into custody as the OSP intensifies efforts to verify whether SML’s claimed contributions to revenue savings were genuine or overstated.
Others Released on Bail
The OSP has also questioned and granted bail to several other key individuals in connection with the investigation. These include:
- Evans Adusei, CEO of SML
- Philip Mensah, former Deputy Commissioner of Legal at GRA and now legal consultant to SML
- Joseph Kuruk and Faustina Adjorkor, both staff of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA)
- Kofi Nti, another former Commissioner-General of GRA, who, according to The High Street Journal’s sources, is currently too ill to be detained
The arrests come months after investigative reports by The Fourth Estate revealed that at least five SML contracts, some running into hundreds of millions of cedis, bypassed competitive procurement processes and parliamentary oversight.
Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd. was awarded contracts by the GRA to monitor fuel flows, tax compliance, and upstream petroleum transactions. The most controversial of the agreements was a ten-year contract valued at approximately $100 million. Investigative journalists and procurement analysts flagged several red flags, including the lack of parliamentary ratification and the inflation of SML’s stated impact.
Meanwhile, public attention remains sharply focused on the outcome of the investigation, which could set a precedent for the accountability of public-private partnerships in Ghana’s revenue sector.
