The High Court in Accra has granted the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) four additional weeks to serve former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and his former Chief of Cabinet, Ernest Darko Akore, with summons in the United States. This decision was made on September 29, 2026, during a court sitting. The case, which involves Ofori-Atta and seven others, has been adjourned to October 29, 2026.
The OSP is pursuing 28 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences against Ofori-Atta, arising from an investigation into revenue assurance arrangements between Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). The accused persons, including former GRA Commissioners-General Emmanuel Kofi Nti and Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, are alleged to have been involved in corruption that resulted in financial losses of more than GH¢1.4 billion.
At the previous hearing on August 27, 2026, the case was adjourned to September 29, 2026, to allow the prosecution time to serve Ofori-Atta and Akore with the necessary processes in the United States. The prosecution team that travelled to the US to engage the US Department of Justice over the service of the summons was yet to return to Ghana, prompting the request for additional time.
The case is part of a wider set of prosecutions by the OSP that had been affected by legal challenges to the Office's prosecutorial powers. Proceedings in a number of OSP cases had been stalled since April 2026 following a High Court ruling that questioned the Office's authority to prosecute independently of the Attorney-General.
However, the Supreme Court subsequently upheld the constitutional validity of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) in a unanimous decision. This ruling has paved the way for the OSP to continue its prosecutions, including the case against Ofori-Atta and others.
Those accused persons who have been served with summons and have appeared before the court have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The OSP alleges that the accused persons were involved in corruption and corruption-related offences connected to the SML-GRA revenue assurance arrangements.
The OSP's investigation into the SML-GRA revenue assurance arrangements has resulted in the charges against Ofori-Atta and others. The court has given the OSP four more weeks to complete the service of summons, and the case has been adjourned to October 29, 2026.
Key points
- The High Court in Accra has given the OSP four more weeks to serve Ken Ofori-Atta with summons in the US.
- The case involves 28 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences against Ofori-Atta and seven others.
- The OSP alleges that the accused persons were involved in corruption that resulted in financial losses of more than GH¢1.4 billion.
