Benjamin Pinewood
The High Court in Accra has granted the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) four additional weeks to complete efforts to serve former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and his former Chief of Cabinet, Ernest Darko Akore, with court summons in the United States.
The case, involving Ofori-Atta and seven others, has been adjourned to October 29, 2026.
At a sitting on Tuesday, September 29, the prosecution told the court that a team sent to the United States to engage the US Department of Justice over the service of the summons had not yet returned to Ghana.
The prosecution subsequently requested more time to complete the necessary procedures, a request the court granted.
Ofori-Atta is facing 28 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences arising from the OSP’s investigation into revenue assurance contracts between Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The other accused persons are former GRA Commissioners-General Emmanuel Kofi Nti and Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah; former Customs Division Commissioners Isaac Crentsil and Kwadwo Damoah; Ernest Darko Akore; SML Chief Executive Officer Evans Adusei; and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited.
The OSP alleges that the accused persons were involved in corruption and related offences connected to the SML-GRA revenue assurance arrangements, which allegedly resulted in financial losses exceeding GH¢1.4 billion.
Those who have been served with the court processes and have appeared before the court have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the previous hearing on August 27, 2026, the court adjourned the case to September 29 to allow the prosecution more time to serve Ofori-Atta and Akore in the United States.
The case is among several prosecutions by the OSP that were affected by legal challenges to the Office’s authority to prosecute criminal cases independently of the Attorney-General.
Proceedings in a number of OSP cases were stalled from April 2026 following a High Court ruling that questioned the Office’s independent prosecutorial powers.
The Supreme Court subsequently ruled unanimously to uphold the constitutional validity of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).
Source:Omanghana
