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Three Former GRA Officials Detained Over $141 Million SML Scandal


 

Three former senior officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have been arrested and are currently in the custody of the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) in connection with the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) contracts scandal. The arrests follow investigations led by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

Officials in Custody

  • Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah – Former Commissioner-General of GRA
  • Dr. Isaac Crentsil – Former Commissioner of Customs
  • Christian Tetteh Sottie – Former Technical Advisor to the GRA Commissioner-General

All three were detained after failing to meet bail conditions following their interrogation by the OSP.

Background: The SML Controversy

The scandal was uncovered through a year-long investigative report by former journalists of The Fourth Estate—Evans Aziamor-Mensah, Adwoa Adobea-Owusu, and Manasseh Azure Awuni. The investigation revealed serious procurement breaches and misrepresentations tied to contracts awarded to SML.

SML, initially registered as a timber company, was incorporated in February 2017—shortly after the current administration took office. Despite having no prior experience in the oil and gas sector, the company was awarded high-value contracts by the GRA and Ministry of Finance. By the end of 2023, it had received over $141 million from the government.

Key findings from the investigation and an independent audit by KPMG include:

  • False claims by SML regarding its contributions to government revenue and national savings.
  • A widely publicized but fabricated claim that SML saved the state GHS 3 billion.
  • Lack of compliance with the Public Procurement Act (PPA) in awarding contracts.
  • KPMG confirmed that SML had no measurable impact on fuel volume tracking or revenue growth.

Roles of Key Individuals

  • Dr. Isaac Crentsil, who signed off the initial SML contracts during his time as Commissioner of Customs, is now General Manager at SML. He later served as a technical advisor at the Ministry of Finance before retiring in 2022.
  • Christian Tetteh Sottie, previously a technical advisor to the GRA Commissioner-General, currently serves as SML’s Managing Director.
  • Philip Mensah, formerly head of legal at GRA, now acts as Legal Advisor to SML.
  • Emmanuel Kofi Nti, another former GRA Commissioner-General, also faced questioning. He was responsible for initiating attempts to award SML contracts via single-source procurement—a method rejected three times by the PPA.

Despite repeated PPA rejections, the contracts were still issued. These actions were later formalized under Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, who ratified the deals during his tenure as Commissioner-General. In 2023, a consolidated contract expanded SML’s scope to include the mining and upstream petroleum sectors, awarding it over $100 million annually for five years, renewable for another five.

Audit and Technical Findings

KPMG and investigative journalists revealed:

  • SML’s metering systems, based on soundwave technology, were less accurate than existing systems already certified by the Ghana Standards Authority.
  • The ERDMS and ICUMS platforms, not SML’s data, remain the primary tools for monitoring petroleum products and enforcing tax compliance.
  • SML was not responsible for detecting fuel diversion, under-reporting, or dilution, contrary to claims it previously made on its website and in public relations materials.

Further, SML engineers admitted that their readings were not used by either the GRA or National Petroleum Authority (NPA) for revenue collection.

Political Fallout and Current Status

Following the exposé and subsequent KPMG audit—commissioned by President Nana Akufo-Addo—SML’s expanded roles in the upstream and mining sectors were suspended. However, the company resumed its downstream operations in June 2024.

President John Mahama, then the NDC flagbearer, had labeled the SML deal as a “fleecing of the state” and pledged to terminate it if elected. As of June 2025, no official steps have been taken to cancel or renegotiate the contracts.

Conclusion

The arrests of these former GRA officials mark a major development in what is shaping up to be one of Ghana’s most significant corruption investigations in recent years. The scandal has raised serious concerns about governance, procurement transparency, and accountability in public financial management.


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Source: MyNewsGh.com

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