Former Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Paul Adom-Otchere, will at 3pm today meet investigators at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

He will be engaging the Office for questioning in relation to an ongoing probe into a revenue assurance audit contract. The Office of the Special Prosecutor is investigating alleged corruption and corruption-related offenses that may have arisen from the contract between Ghana Airports Company Limited and a private firm.

Per reports, an official letter dated July 25, 2025, the Office of the Special Prosecutor has named Paul Adom-Otchere as a suspect.

Reacting to the invitation, Paul Adom-Otchere noted that this is a “witch-hunt” as the relevant management officials are available and were directly involved in the operational decision.

Meanwhile, Ghanaian investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has, in a yet-to-be-aired report, revealed that something untoward has or had happened at the Kotoka International Airport.

In a Facebook post titled “SML DISGUISED AT KOTOKA”, he stated that the “immediate past GACL Board Chairman, Paul Adom Otchere; the Managing Director of GACL, Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare; and the PPA CEO, Frank Mantey, have questions to answer to Ghanaians.”

In June this year, the Office of the Special Prosecutor searched the Tema and Osu offices belonging to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML). The activities of SML came to light years ago after Manasseh Azure Awuni raised contractual breaches in a deal involving Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).

The original purpose of the GRA-SML contract was to boost revenue assurance in vital sectors of Ghana’s economy, including the downstream petroleum sector, upstream petroleum production, and the minerals and metals value chain.

The goal was to streamline revenue collection, ensuring greater transparency and efficiency in these high-revenue sectors.

Following concerns, an in-depth audit was carried out by international firm KPMG, commissioned by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The audit was launched to examine the contractual agreements between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML, with a particular focus on the procedures and approvals related to the contract.

The KPMG audit uncovered significant procedural errors and regulatory violations in awarding the contract. Specifically, the GRA did not obtain the required approvals from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and failed to seek parliamentary oversight before finalizing the agreement with SML

GRA entered into six (6) service agreements with SML, utilising the single-source method without obtaining approval from PPA, as outlined below:

a) Transaction Audit Services—1 June 2018

b) Contract Extension—1 January 2019

c) External Price Verification Services—1 April 2019

d) Consolidation Services Agreement (Transaction Audit & External Verification Services)—3 October 2019

e) Measurement Audit of Downstream Petroleum Products—3 October 2019

f) Addendum to Measurement Audit for Downstream Petroleum Products Agreement—29 July 2020.

The audit report also revealed that SML owes the government over GHC31 million in taxes.

During the period from 1 September 2020 to 30 April 2021, a bulk payment to SML covering invoices for an 8-month period did not have VAT and WHT deductions, amounting to GHE13.38 million.

This contradicts GRA's standard practice of deducting such taxes for payments to SML between 1 June 2020 and 31 August 2023.

Additionally, SML failed to fulfil its statutory obligations by neither filing returns nor remitting these taxes to GRA.

Pursuant to Section 71(1) of the RA Act, the accrued interest on the tax liability is estimated at GHC18.50 million owed by SML to GRA as of 31 January 2024. Consequently, the total liability incurred by SML amounts to GHC31.88 million.

In May 2024, Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, noted that the then Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta had a role to play in the controversial deal.

"The SML or SMEL deal is a clear example of what Justice Dotse described as a create, loot and share. One thing Ghanaians must bear in mind is that all of these happened with the tacit approval of the then Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta."

"As usual, he is trying to run under the radar and people are failing to realise, the key cardinal role he played in this entire arrangement," he stated while speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile programme on Saturday, May 25.

In February this year, SML dragged Azure Awuni to court, claiming that Manasseh referred to its agreement with the government as “the biggest scam” and labeled the deal as “shady” while branding the entire situation “the SML scandal.”

Last month, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) granted bail to Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML), Evans Adusei and three others who were arrested for their involvement in contracts between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML for revenue assurance services.

The rest of the suspects granted bail are Philip Mensah, former deputy commissioner of Legal GRA and now legal consultant to SML; Joseph Kuruk and Faustina Adjorkor, both staff of the Public Procurement Authority; and Kofi Nti, former Commissioner General of GRA.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) on June 25 arrested Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former Commissioner-General of the GRA; Isaac Crentsil, ex-Commissioner of Customs and now General Manager at Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML); and Christian Tetteh Sottie, former Technical Advisor and now MD/CEO of SML.

These three individuals were detained after failing to meet bail conditions. The arrests are linked to ongoing investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of contracts between the GRA and SML for revenue assurance services.

The probe also seeks to verify SML’s claims that its services have been saving the nation significant revenues.

In July, the OSP declared former Chef de Cabinet (Technical Advisor) at the Finance Ministry, Ernest D. Akore, wanted over his alleged involvement in corruption-related offences concerning the Revenue Assurance Contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).

In a public notice served by the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) on Wednesday, July 16, the Office noted that the 67-year-old likely possesses dual citizenship (Ghana and America) and is probably in hiding in the US, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, or South Africa.

An arrest warrant for Mr. Akore has been issued by the High Court’s Criminal Division under the case title Republic v. Ernest D. Akore.

To aid his arrest, the OSP has urged anyone with information on the whereabouts of Mr Akore to alert the Office by calling or sending a WhatsApp message to 0554494499/0554484488.