Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has urged the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to act quickly in freezing the assets of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta over his alleged role in the controversial SML–GRA contract.
Mr Kpebu has warned that any delay could allow him to conceal or transfer ownership of his properties.
He added that the OSP must now move beyond investigations and take concrete legal steps to secure state assets and prevent potential financial losses.
“By the end of this month, we should know what the OSP intends to do,” he said on TV3’s KeyPoints on November 1.
“He hasn’t given any indication whether he’ll consider a trial in absentia, which some of us have been advocating for.”
Mr. Kpebu said he would personally file a petition for the removal of OSP Kissi Agyebeng if he fails to take immediate action to freeze Mr. Ofori-Atta’s assets.
“If by the 14th of this month Ofori-Atta has not been put before court so that his assets can be frozen, I’ll be the first to present a petition for the OSP’s removal,” he warned.
According to him, the former Finance Minister allegedly owns shares in Enterprise Insurance, Data Bank, and several other businesses, as well as properties that must be preserved while investigations continue.
“Ofori-Atta has many assets in Ghana shares, houses, and other businesses. We need to freeze them before they disappear,” he stressed.
He pointed out that while the OSP Act (Act 959) grants the Special Prosecutor power to freeze assets, such powers are time-bound and require court approval for extensions.
“The OSP can freeze assets for only 14 days; after that, he must go to court for an extension,” Mr. Kpebu explained. “He needs to move fast so we don’t lose everything.”
He criticised what he described as the OSP’s slow pace, saying it undermines public trust in the office’s commitment to fighting corruption.
“He’s been on this case since 2023 and we’re still waiting. It’s becoming a very slow process,” Mr. Kpebu said.
“He’s not doing this for private gain. it’s in the public interest. He must move with urgency and get freezing orders over all assets.”
Mr. Kpebu said the campaign, dubbed “Operation Recover All Loot,” is about ensuring accountability and recovering every cedi lost through the SML–GRA deal.
“We can’t afford to have Ofori-Atta sell his assets or transfer them to others,” he concluded. “This is public money — we must recover all of it.”
Mr. Kpebu said although the OSP’s report on the deal exposed clear wrongdoing, parts of it were inconsistent and needed stronger enforcement measures, especially in recovering funds paid under illegal circumstances.
“The OSP’s report shows clearly that SML did not do the work and yet got paid,” he said.
“I don’t understand how the report concludes that only GH₵125 million should be recovered. When you read from paragraphs 212 to 215, you see how SML was not up to the task. Their equipment wasn’t even functioning.”
He said the report highlights several periods when SML’s flow meters were faulty and the company failed to deliver on its obligations, yet continued to receive payments.
“Look at paragraphs 215 and onward you’ll see how SML kept lying about their systems working when in fact they weren’t,” he stated.
“Even when they said they’d changed their flow meters, the evidence showed they were still not performing.”
Mr. Kpebu also referenced Manasseh Azure Awuni’s documentary on the contract, stressing that visual evidence confirmed SML’s underperformance.
“You don’t need anyone to tell you, you see their own IT head in the video admitting that the NPA’s equipment for measuring petroleum products is far better than SML’s. So why were we paying them?” he asked.
