The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has disclosed that the corruption cases involving former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and six former senior officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), scheduled for hearing today, Monday, November 24, have been postponed to a later date.

Although the OSP did not provide a reason for the recent adjournment, it indicated on the X platform on Monday that the new date will be made public.

According to the OSP, “CR/0106/2026 Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta & 7 Ors. This case has been adjourned as the Court would not sit on the originally scheduled date of 24 November 2025. A new date would be communicated to the Republic and the Accused Persons.’”

The accused were expected to appear before Criminal Court 3 on Monday, November 24, to answer allegations leveled against them. The defendants, who face 78 charges, are standing trial for their roles in the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) deal, which allegedly caused financial loss to the state.

The others involved in the trial include Ernest Darko Akore, former Chief of Staff to the Finance Minister; Emmanuel Kofi Nti and Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, both former Commissioner-Generals of the GRA; Isaac Crentsil; Kwadwo Damoah, former Commissioner of the Customs Division; Evans Adusei, CEO of SML; and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd.

During a press conference on Thursday, October 30, the OSP accused the former Finance Minister of approving payments to SML without any technical or operational justification. According to the OSP, Ofori-Atta failed to intervene even though SML openly lacked the necessary capacity, expertise, and tools to execute its contract. Instead, he allegedly remained complicit, approving payments from the Consolidated Fund, the Petroleum Revenue Account, and the Tax Refund Account.

The OSP stated, “Had he not been personally benefiting from SML's unlawfully procured contracts, the openly displayed lack of capacity, expertise, and tools would have immediately triggered his intervention to halt payments and demand accountability. Instead, he looked on conspiratorially in silence while endorsing and approving payments to SML from the Consolidated Fund, Petroleum Revenue Account, and Tax Refund Account with no technical or operational basis.”

Strategic Mobilisation Limited has been operating in Ghana for the past five years to oversee revenue in the oil (upstream) and mining (mineral) sectors. In 2024, the revenue arm of the government discontinued two contract transactions—the Audit and External Verification Service Contract (AEVS) with SML—and halted portions of the contract agreement.

The GRA also suspended SML's Upstream Petroleum and Minerals Revenue Audit until further notice, following a report from KPMG presented to then-President Akufo-Addo regarding irregularities in SML’s deals. Last week, President John Dramani Mahama ordered the termination of the SML deal after a comprehensive investigation conducted by the OSP, led by Mr. Kissi Agyebeng. The termination was communicated through a letter to the Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.

Following the investigations, the anti-corruption agency identified procurement breaches and irregularities in contract awards, overreach beyond SML’s original mandate, inflated costs with questionable service delivery, and legal concerns. The SML contracts included multiple components, such as a Transaction Audit and External Price Verification service agreement, a Measurement Audit for Downstream Petroleum Products contract, and later agreements for Upstream Petroleum and Minerals & Metals audit services.

On May 3, 2024, the GRA terminated two of those contracts (Transaction Audit & External Price Verification) and suspended the Upstream Petroleum & Minerals Audit portion under the previous government. In June 2025, following the OSP’s findings, the Measurement Audit for Downstream Petroleum Products—the main SML contract—was completely terminated, saving Ghana over GHS 1.2 billion.

In an addendum shared on its X handle, the OSP noted additional savings beyond the GHS 1.2 billion. According to the agency, Ghana has now saved more than GHS 2.6 billion and US$173 million. These additional savings resulted from avoiding payments tied to crude oil and gold export monitoring services that were never implemented.

The OSP stated, “Following the earlier announcement that Ghana saved over GHS 1.2 billion from the cancellation of the main SML revenue assurance contract, there are additional savings from the upstream and mineral sector components of the agreement. These contracts, based on a variable fee structure linked to exports of crude oil and gold, would have cost the State approximately US$173 million for crude oil and GHS 2.6 billion for gold exports over five years. SML did not commence work as the arrangement coincided with the KPMG audit. Owing to the criminal investigations by the OSP and the subsequent cancellation by the President, Ghana has now avoided these further costs.”

In a detailed press briefing, the OSP highlighted critical findings that exposed systemic breaches of public financial regulations and clear misuse of authority resulting in financial loss to the state.

"There was no genuine need for contracting SML for the obligations it's purported to perform," the Special Prosecutor declared.

Mr. Agyebeng has solidified the case against SML, alleging that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta approved payments without technical or operational justification. According to the OSP, Ofori-Atta failed to intervene despite SML’s lack of capacity, expertise, and tools, remaining complicit by approving payments from the Consolidated Fund, Petroleum Revenue Account, and Tax Refund Account.

The investigation also revealed SML’s inability to perform the contracted revenue assurance services, including transaction audits and external price verification. Even after 15 months, SML reportedly “had no system in place to receive CCVRs” (customs control and valuation records), essential data needed to execute its tasks. Additionally, the existing data provider, West Blue, was under “no legal obligation to release the vital data” to SML. Consequently, the assigned work remained uncompleted, yet payments continued, resulting in financial loss to the state.

Former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has been declared wanted by the OSP for causing financial loss to the state in several dealings, including the contractual arrangement between SML and the GRA, aimed at enhancing revenue assurance in the downstream petroleum sector, upstream petroleum production, and the minerals and metals resource value chain.

Concerns over SML’s activities were first raised years ago by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni. The GRA-SML contract was originally intended to boost revenue assurance in key sectors, streamline revenue collection, and ensure transparency and efficiency.

An in-depth audit by KPMG, commissioned by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, revealed procedural errors and regulatory violations in awarding the contract. Specifically, the GRA did not obtain approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and failed to seek parliamentary oversight before finalising the agreement with SML.

The GRA entered into six service agreements with SML using the single-source procurement method without PPA approval. The first agreement, covering Transaction Audit Services, was signed on June 1, 2018, followed by a contract extension on January 1, 2019. On April 1, 2019, the GRA entered into another agreement for External Price Verification Services.

On October 3, 2019, the parties signed a Consolidation Services Agreement, combining the Transaction Audit and External Verification Services. That same day, a separate agreement was signed for the Measurement Audit of Downstream Petroleum Products. Later, on July 29, 2020, an addendum to the Measurement Audit agreement was executed. The audit also revealed that SML owes the government over GHS 31 million in taxes.