The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has granted bail to Evans Adusei, CEO of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), along with several individuals linked to controversial contracts between SML and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Others granted bail include Philip Mensah, a former Deputy Commissioner of Legal at the GRA and now Legal Consultant to SML, as well as Joseph Kuruk and Faustina Adjorkor from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA). Kofi Nti, former Commissioner General of the GRA, has also been granted bail.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, June 25, the OSP confirmed the arrests and said the ongoing investigations are focused on suspected corruption and related offences regarding SML’s contracts.
Meanwhile, three key figures—Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah (former GRA Commissioner-General), Isaac Crentsil (former Commissioner of Customs and now General Manager at SML), and Christian Tetteh Sottie (Managing Director of SML)—were detained overnight after failing to meet bail requirements.
The scandal involving SML came to light through an investigative report by former Fourth Estate journalists Evans Aziamor-Mensah, Adwoa Adobea-Owusu, and Manasseh Azure Awuni. Their exposé revealed that SML received over $141 million from government contracts by the end of 2023—contracts alleged to have breached several laws, including the Public Procurement Act. In 2023, then Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta expanded the scope of SML’s contracts to include upstream petroleum and mining sectors. The contract was valued at over $100 million annually for five years, with a potential five-year renewal. Under the deal, SML earned a percentage of revenue from petroleum products, oil production, and gold mining in Ghana. However, after KPMG audited the contract at the request of then-President Nana Akufo-Addo, parts of the deal—particularly involving upstream and mining sectors—were suspended. The government also canceled SML’s external price verification and transaction audit services at Ghana’s ports, citing redundancy with GRA functions.
President Akufo-Addo directed the Ministry of Finance and the GRA to renegotiate the SML contract based on KPMG’s findings. The audit acknowledged benefits from SML’s services, including real-time monitoring of petroleum product flows and improved tax revenue—reportedly an additional 1.7 billion litres in volumes and GH¢2.45 billion in tax revenue. However, KPMG recommended a shift from a variable fee structure to a fixed one, alongside other contractual revisions regarding intellectual property, termination clauses, and service delivery expectations.
Controversy deepened when The Fourth Estate reported that SML had secured a 10-year contract worth $100 million per year. SML later refuted this, stating it had a five-year deal. The GRA also defended its actions, insisting that due procurement processes were followed.
On January 3, 2024, SML issued a statement welcoming the President’s directive to suspend operations and allow for a contract audit by KPMG.
The OSP’s recent arrests and bail grants mark a significant development in one of Ghana’s largest ongoing corruption investigations involving state revenue collection.