Special Prosecutor lists corruption cases under investigation

The Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) has published its half year report ending December 2022, naming cases it was currently investigating or prosecuting and related to corruption.
The half-year report is in pursuant to section 3(3) of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), which mandates the Office to publish, on a half-yearly basis, cases it was investigating or prosecuting.

Two cases in court

There has not been any convictions or acquittals in respect of the cases pending before the criminal courts during the period under review, August 2022 to December 2022.

There are two criminal cases being tried before the courts.

Republic v. Adjenim Boateng Adjei & Another

The trial of the former Chief Executive of Public Procurement Authority and his brother-in-law is pending before the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra.

Mr. Adjei has been charged with eight counts of using public office for profit and nine counts of directly and indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of public contracts.

His brother-in-law has been charged with one count of using public office for profit.
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Alexander Kwabena Sarfo-Kantanka

The trial of the President’s nominee for the position of Chief Executive of Juaben Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region is pending before the Criminal Division of the High Court in Kumasi.

Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka has been charged with 26 counts of corruption in respect of a public election.

Concluded Investigations

In the report published in the Daily Graphic (Wednesday, Jan 4, 2022), the Special Prosecutor said investigations into two cases of corruption in the use of public office for profit against former Secretary of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue have been concluded.

The other one is the suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in the award of a contract by the Northern Development Authority (NDA) for consultancy services under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), especially in respect of the quantum of the contract sum.

The Office of Special Prosecutor initiated a probe against Charles Bissue into his role at the IMCIM, following an investigative documentary titled Galamsey Fraud Part I, published by Tiger Eye P.I.
Other cases under investigation include the alleged bribery by Airbus SE, a European multinational aerospace corporation, in respect of the sale and purchase of military aircraft for the Republic of Ghana.

The other named high-profile cases include an investigation into the banking and financial sector crisis, and allegations of attempted bribery of Members of Parliament by an unnamed wealthy businessman.

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Other cases under investigation are the alleged improper acquisition of state-protected land at the Achimota Forest enclave and the Sakumono Ramsar site by the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John), a former Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission and an investigation in respect of suspected corruption and corruption–related offences in respect of the recruitment exercise of Course 51 of Cadet Officers Training at the Ghana Police Academy.

The OSP s also investigating 120 other cases at various levels of consideration.

These would be publicised if the Special Prosecutor determines that they are within the mandate of the Office and that they should be moved past the preliminary investigation stage.

“This is a policy intended to protect the privacy of individuals and the business operations of institutions and companies, and to avoid unnecessary stigmatization,” the report by the Special Prosecutor stated.

The report added that the Special Prosecutor or an authorised officer will issue directives for further action on the concluded cases in due course.

Attached below is a copy of the report