Three former top Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) officials have been arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in a daring attempt to combat high-level corruption.
The arrests are related to a larger investigation into suspected corruption and procurement violations involving Strategic Mobilization Ghana Ltd. (SML), particularly with regard to contentious contracts granted by the GRA for revenue assurance services in Ghana’s mining, upstream, and downstream petroleum industries.
These contracts have come under intense investigation due to claims of poor value for money and circumvention of competitive bidding procedures.
Among those detained are Christian Tetteh Sottie, a former Technical Advisor at the GRA who is currently the Managing Director/CEO of SML; Isaac Crentsil, a former Commissioner of Customs and current General Manager at SML; and Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, the GRA’s immediate former Commissioner-General.
The arrests are “part of efforts to ascertain whether public officials acted inappropriately in approving or benefiting from these contracts, which have major implications on national revenue and procurement integrity,” according to an official OSP statement.
After not meeting the requirements of their bond, the three guys were held overnight. They are anticipated to be subjected to more grilling as the probe becomes deeper.
In addition to assessing the veracity of SML’s assertions on increasing government revenue, the OSP emphasized that this investigation phase is concentrated on “suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the contractual arrangements between the GRA and SML.”
SML has frequently defended its business practices, claiming that its offerings have improved revenue collection and plugged gaps in the mining and petroleum industries. Independent experts and civil society organizations, however, have contested these assertions as well as the murky procedures pertaining to the contract awarding.
Kofi Bentil, a governance analyst, responded to the arrests by calling the action “a positive step,” noting that “we’ve long demanded accountability in how public contracts, especially multi-billion cedi ones, are awarded.”
Many are keeping a close eye on the inquiry to see if this crackdown will be a watershed in Ghana’s battle against institutional corruption.
Source: newsthemegh.com