The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has arrested three former senior officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in connection with ongoing investigations into corruption-related offences involving Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) contracts.
Those arrested are Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former Commissioner-General of GRA; Isaac Crentsil, ex-Commissioner of Customs and now General Manager at SML; and Christian Tetteh Sottie, former Technical Advisor and current MD/CEO of SML.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, June 25, the OSP confirmed that the arrests form part of a broader probe into suspected corruption and irregularities tied to revenue assurance contracts between the GRA and SML.
“The probe also seeks to verify SML’s claims that its services have been saving the nation significant revenues. Owusu-Amoah, Crentsil and Sottie were detained last night after failing to meet bail conditions,” the statement noted.
The controversial SML deal came under public scrutiny following an investigative documentary by The Fourth Estate, spearheaded by journalists Evans Aziamor-Mensah, Adwoa Adobea-Owusu, and Manasseh Azure Awuni. The report revealed that SML received over $141 million in payments from the government by the end of 2023, despite questions over the legality and value of its contracts.
The SML contract granted the company a cut from revenues on petroleum sales, oil production, and gold mining in Ghana. By 2023, the Finance Ministry, then led by Ken Ofori-Atta, had expanded SML’s scope to cover mining and upstream petroleum sectors, with a potential worth of over $100 million annually for a 5-year period, renewable for another five years.
Following public backlash and the findings of the investigative report, the government suspended contracts related to the upstream and mining sectors, and cancelled external price verification and port transaction audit services, citing overlaps with GRA’s functions.
In April 2024, then President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ordered a renegotiation of the SML-GRA contract, based on recommendations from KPMG, the audit firm tasked with reviewing the deal.
While KPMG acknowledged some positive outcomes from SML’s operations—such as a reported increase of 1.7 billion litres in petroleum volumes and GHS 2.45 billion in tax revenue—the audit recommended a change in the fee structure from variable to fixed and highlighted areas needing review, including intellectual property rights, termination clauses, and service delivery expectations.
“There is a clear need for the downstream petroleum audit services provided by SML. However, it is important to review the contract… especially the fee structure,” the audit report noted.
In December 2023, The Fourth Estate released a bombshell report alleging that SML had been granted a 10-year contract worth $100 million annually—a claim SML strongly denied, insisting its contract was only for five years.
The GRA also denied wrongdoing, stating that proper procurement processes were followed.
On January 3, 2024, SML welcomed the President’s suspension of operations pending KPMG’s audit, pledging full cooperation.
As investigations deepen, the arrests by the OSP mark a significant development in Ghana’s fight against high-level corruption. More updates are expected in the coming days as the case unfolds.