Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO), Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, has issued a challenge to individuals who allege corruption, urging them to provide evidence to support their claims.

According to her, making unverified and baseless allegations of corruption is insufficient, and those making such accusations should be able to substantiate them with concrete evidence.

Speaking to the media at a Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) event Accra on January 29, she said, “One thing that we should always remember is that when you are prosecuting corruption, it is not about what you think, it is about the evidence that you have. If you don’t have evidence, you don’t have a case. That is what the public must understand. People make wild allegations but when it comes to evidence, they chicken out."

Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah emphasizes that corruption permeates through the fabric of society, underscoring the need for a collective effort in the fight against it.

“I am concerned, everybody should be concerned. What do we have to do? We must all put our hands together and we must fight whatever is fighting us. That is what I can say. The point is that, like the OSP said, if we really need to fight it, then everybody must fight. I have somebody who asked me for support to pay school fees or something.

Then the moment I said I could help, she called me back to say that I should not put it on her MoMo because she is owing MTN, can you imagine. And I did. So, these are small-small things that we think they don’t matter, but they do. It starts from small-small things and become big,” she stated.

Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah was responding to questions related to a money laundering case referred to her office by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP). Additionally, she addressed queries regarding an exposé by The Fourth Estate on the contract awarded to Strategic Mobilisation by the Ghana Revenue Authority for revenue assurances in the downstream petroleum sector.

In a December 2023 investigative report, The Fourth Estate implicated Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the Ministry of Finance in a contentious contract.

The report alleged that GRA had granted SML a purported 10-year contract with an annual payment of $100 million, raising concerns about possible irregularities. SML refuted this claim, asserting that it had a five-year contract instead.

The GRA, in a statement on December 20, 2023, maintained that proper procurement procedures were followed. On January 3, 2024, SML welcomed President Akufo-Addo's directive to suspend its ongoing revenue assurance operations and undergo an audit of its contract with the GRA and the Ministry of Finance.

President Akufo-Addo appointed KPMG, an audit, tax, and advisory services firm, to conduct an immediate audit. SML expressed confidence that the audit would provide a clear and accurate depiction of its operations.