An Accra High Court has granted a GH₵50 million bail package—each with two sureties to be justified—to former Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner-General, Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, and four other accused persons embroiled in the high-profile Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) procurement case.

The bail marks a major development in what has become one of the most consequential corruption-related prosecutions in the recent history.

Those granted bail alongside Rev. Owusu-Amoah are former GRA Commissioner-General Emmanuel Kofi Nti, former GRA Commissioner of Customs Isaac Crentsil, SML Chief Executive Evans Adusei, and SML itself, charged as a corporate entity.

They are facing trial with former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta (A1) and his former Chief of Staff Ernest Akore (A2), all accused of playing various roles in what prosecutors describe as a coordinated effort to manipulate procurement processes for the benefit of SML.

The charges stem from a controversial revenue assurance contract awarded to SML between 2017 and 2023—an arrangement OSP has argued lacked transparency and was executed outside established procurement rules.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) began probing the deal after discovering that the contract had ballooned into a multi-year, multi-layered agreement costing the state over GH₵1.4 billion.

Investigators allege that senior officials at the Ministry of Finance and the GRA worked together to steer the contract toward SML, creating an unfair advantage and committing acts that caused significant financial loss to the state.

The OSP has also indicated that further payments—running into billions of dollars—would have been triggered had the State not intervened to suspend renewed contract components earlier this year.

Bail Conditions And Court Directives

As part of the bail conditions, the High Court ordered all five accused persons to deposit their passports and all travel documents with the court registry; Report to the Office of the Special Prosecutor once every week, and remain on existing OSP bail conditions until the new terms take effect.

Due to the court rising late, the judge ruled that the GH₵50 million bail will only take effect on Monday, December 15, 2025, when administrative procedures resume.

The accused persons have also been instructed to report to the OSP on Friday, December 12, to commence the compliance process.

Prosecution’s Allegation

Prosecutors maintain that the accused persons—some of whom held top-level government and revenue oversight positions—participated in: Influencing a procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage; Causing financial loss to the state, and using public office for profit.

According to the OSP, the suspected misconduct extended beyond procurement irregularities and included attempts to structure the SML contract in a manner that guaranteed massive future payouts at the state’s expense.

Parliamentary Immunity Halts Bench Warrant Request

The court was also expected to take the plea of Col (Rtd) Kwadwo Damoah, Member of Parliament for Jaman South and former Commissioner of Customs (A6).

However, prosecutors requested a bench warrant after he failed to appear.

The judge declined, ruling that the MP enjoyed parliamentary immunity, as Parliament was in session at the time the summons was served.

His plea has been rescheduled to December 17, 2025, when the case will resume.