The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has confirmed the arrest of Freeman Sarbah, the acting Head of Legal at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), in a significant step up in the investigation into the contentious revenue assurance contract between the GRA and Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited (SML).
In connection with the highly scrutinized GRA–SML contract, Mr. Sarbah is under investigation on a number of serious allegations, including alleged corruption and offenses related to corruption, as well as the crucial charge of obstruction of justice.
His arrest is a symptom of the OSP’s increased attention to important public officials who are suspected of obtaining and concealing the illegal and financially destructive contract.
Given that the OSP’s investigation has previously revealed a severe lack of transparency from the GRA, the accusation of obstruction of justice brought against the chief legal officer of the GRA is very noteworthy.
The GRA was found to have violated transparency and governance norms by failing to reveal comprehensive agreements between SML and its third-party partners.
This arrest suggests that the OSP is now pursuing criminal action against officials suspected of impeding its probe into the origins and execution of the deal, which the OSP has described as being secured through “self-serving official patronage based on false and unverified claims”.
The arrest comes amidst the OSP’s ongoing probe into the sheer financial scale and legal irregularities surrounding the SML contracts:
Massive Payments: The OSP’s investigation established that SML received a staggering total of over GH¢1.4 billion from the Republic by December 2024. Crucially, these payments were reportedly made on an automatic mode, detached from actual performance and without effective supervision by the GRA.
Unlawful Contracting: The contracts themselves were deemed irregular and unlawful, as they were initially awarded without the required approval of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and lacked the necessary parliamentary approval for multi-year contracts.
Statutory Violations: The findings revealed clear violations of multiple statutory provisions, including Section 179C of the Criminal Offences Act (prohibiting using public office for profit) and Section 92(2b) of the Public Procurement Act (forbidding influencing procurement processes to obtain an unfair advantage).
Mr. Sarbah’s arrest is part of a broader crackdown on senior officials connected to the SML scandal.
The OSP’s investigation has uncovered a “tightly knit and non-coincidental association of events,” strongly suggesting an “orchestrated plan”.
Several former senior GRA officials, including past Commissioners-General and Commissioners of Customs, have previously been detained or investigated in connection with their roles in facilitating the unlawful revenue assurance contracts.
The OSP’s relentless pursuit of accountability, culminating in the arrest of a sitting Head of Legal, underscores the commitment to thoroughly investigate and prosecute all individuals—regardless of their position—who are found culpable in causing financial losses to the state.
