The Office of the Special Prosecutor has outlined five key claims it intends to establish in court as part of its effort to secure convictions against former Finance Minister Kenneth Ofori Atta and seven other accused persons in a major corruption case linked to Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited, known as SML.

Details of the prosecution’s strategy are contained in the OSP Half Yearly Report covering July to December 2025. According to the report, the state will seek to prove that the accused individuals orchestrated a coordinated scheme that resulted in an estimated financial loss of approximately 1.43 billion cedis to the Republic.

The case, titled The Republic v. Kenneth Ofori Atta and Seven Others and numbered CR 0106 2026, comprises seventy eight charges. Those standing trial include former Commissioners General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, a former Commissioner of Customs, and the Chief Executive Officer of SML.

In its first major claim, the OSP intends to demonstrate that the accused conspired to establish and operate a criminal enterprise aimed at improperly influencing public procurement processes. The prosecution alleges that contracts awarded to SML were secured through undue patronage and influence, supported by false and unverified representations, despite there being no genuine operational need for the company’s services.

Secondly, prosecutors will argue that statutory procurement safeguards were deliberately ignored. According to the OSP, mandatory approvals from Parliament and the Public Procurement Authority Board were bypassed by public officials who allegedly acted with increasing disregard for legal oversight.

The third claim centres on financial management failures. The OSP maintains that the accused ensured the absence of an effective monitoring and verification system for the contracts. It further alleges that payments to SML were automated and disconnected from actual performance, relying instead on unsubstantiated claims, thereby causing harm to the public interest.

Fourthly, the prosecution contends that these actions enabled SML to falsely present itself as having performed services under the contracts, a situation the OSP says directly contributed to the substantial financial losses recorded by the state.

The fifth claim focuses on alleged misrepresentations regarding SML’s technical capacity. The OSP asserts that the accused justified their decisions by falsely claiming the company possessed specialised expertise and exclusive technology capable of significantly increasing state revenue, particularly within the petroleum and minerals sectors.

Two of the principal accused persons, Kenneth Ofori Atta and his former Chef de Cabinet, Ernest Darko Akore, are currently believed to be in the United States. The OSP has confirmed that extradition proceedings have been initiated through the Office of the Attorney General.

The case was formally opened at the High Court in Accra on December 11, 2025. Several accused persons were granted bail in the sum of 50 million cedis each. The court has directed that summons be served on Mr Ofori Atta and Mr Akore to appear on February 26, 2026, while a case management conference has been scheduled for January 29, 2026.