The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has brought eight major corruption cases before the courts, involving former ministers, prominent public officials, and corporate companies.
The prosecutions, detailed in the OSP’s half-yearly update as of July 2025, cover sectors such as petroleum, education, mining, procurement, and payroll administration, and include high-profile figures such as ex-NPA boss Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, former IMCIM secretary Charles Bissue, and ex-PPA leader Adjenim Boateng Adjei.
The OSP claims that the corruption cases currently in courts in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale represent its increased efforts to bring both public authorities and private actors accountable.
Here are the eight corruption cases that the OSP is currently pursuing.
Cr/0603/2025, The Republic v. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid and nine others
On July 23, 2023, the Office filed criminal charges in the High Court of Accra against Mustapha Abdul-Hamid (former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority) and nine (9) persons, including three (3) business organisations.
The accused have been charged with twenty-five charges of conspiracy to commit extortion by a public officer, extortion by a public officer, profiting from public office, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering. The lawsuit has been adjourned until August 26, 2025.
Cr/0513/2025, Republic v. Issah Seidu and three others
On June 27, 2025, the Office arraigned three (3) public officials and one (1) retired public official – Issah Seidu, James Keck Osei, John Abban, and Peter Archibold Hyde – before the High Court in Accra on charges of corruption by and of a public officer and using public office for profit in connection with an attempt to unlawfully appropriate ten containers of imported rice at Tema Port. The case has been delayed until October 21, 2025.
Cr/0407/2025 The Republic v. Charles Cromwell Nanabanyin Onuawonto Bissue & Another
On April 28, 2025, the Office charged Charles Bissue (the Secretary to the disbanded Interministerial Committee on Illegal Mining) with six (6) counts of using public office for profit and three (3) counts of corruption by a public officer in relation to suspected bribes and illicit gifts to unlawfully secure a fast-tracked issuance of a concession sticker allowing a business entity to begin mining without a licence. The case has been postponed till August 28, 2025.
Mr. Bissue was initially prosecuted alongside businessman Andy Thomas Owusu, who was later convicted following the agreement and execution of a plea bargain. In accordance with Section 71(4) of Act 959, the Special Prosecutor accepted Mr. Owusu’s offer of restitution and reparation to the republic on the following terms:
i. Mr. Owusu’s criminal past.
ii. The degree of collaboration Mr. Owusu demonstrated during the
investigation.
iii. The likelihood of achieving a conviction if the case goes to
trial.
iv. A trial’s most likely impact on witnesses.
v. The necessity to avoid delays in the resolution of other ongoing cases.
FT/0035/2025 The Republic v. Ibrahim Kofi Sessah (replaced by FT/0075/2025 The Republic v. Ibrahim Kofi Sessah & Others)
On March 11, 2025, the Office filed criminal charges against Mr. Ibrahim Kofi Sessah, a technician with the local Government Service in Adeiso District, for alleged involvement in a large-scale bribery and money laundering scheme involving the illegal sale of Ghana Education Service (GES) appointment letters. Mr. Sessah is accused of soliciting payments from prospective teacher applicants in exchange for GES appointment letters while working in collaboration with others such as Anthony Gyasi (an IT Officer at GES Head Office), Sadia Alhassan (a teacher at Philip Quaque Boys Basic School), and Francis Asare (a private businessman).
From January 2022 to December 2023, Mr. Sessah is accused of obtaining GH¢604,260.00 through his Zenith Bank account, with GH¢580,000.00 collected directly from over 100 applications. A significant chunk of these payments allegedly went to Anthony Gyasi.
Following investigations, Mr. Sessah was detained and charged with profiting from public office, offering a bribe to influence a public person, and money laundering. On May 6, 2025, he was arraigned before the High Court in Accra and pleaded not guilty.
On July 24, 2024, the charge sheet was amended to include Gloria Acquah as the second accused. The case has been delayed until October 16, 2025.
NR/TL/HC/CC1/2/25: The Republic v. Tahidu Yakubu and Five Others
In November 2023, the OSP and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department launched a collaborative corruption risk assessment and investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences using Government Payroll Administration.
The assessment and investigation are primarily focused on isolating and removing the names of non-existent, ineligible, and undeserving individuals from the government payroll, recovering wrongful payments and unearned salaries, prosecuting individuals suspected of committing any offences, and establishing and implementing internal controls for payroll processing and salary payment. The investigation and assessment include all personnel on government payroll, as well as their banks and other deposit-taking financial institutions.
Following additional investigations, the OSP charged and arraigned six (6) people before the High Court in Tamale on March 13, 2025, for various corruption and corruption-related offences.
Tahidu Yakubu, the first accused, is a former teacher at Balogu M/A Junior High School (Balogu JHS) in Yendi.
Abdulai Abubakar Sadic, the second accused, is the Integrated Municipal Personnel Payroll Database (IPPD) Coordinator at Yendi. Payroll and salary reactivation are among the duties of this position.
Sammy Suuk, the third accused, is the Yendi North Circuit’s Schools Improvement Support Officer (SISO), and his tasks include monitoring and supervising schools, as well as verifying the monthly wages of instructors in his area of control. The fourth accused, Mohammed Yusif Jay, is the former Headmaster of Balogu JHS and was in charge of validating teacher pay at the school.
The fifth accused, Stafford Korletey Azudey-Barres, works as an Assistant Chief Account Technician at the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department in Accra.
The sixth accused, Osman Issahaku, is the current Headmaster of Balogu JHS and is in charge of validating teacher wages at the school. The defendants were charged with twenty-two (22) counts of corruption by and of a public officer, falsifying a public officer’s certificate, and inflicting financial harm to the republic.
Upon the start of the proceedings, the accused persons invoked the OSP’s plea bargaining regime under section 71(1) of Act 959 and voluntarily offered to admit the offences, make restitution, and provide information that will aid in the arrest and prosecution of other persons known to them as having committed or about to commit corruption and corruption-related offences.
The Special Prosecutor, in accordance with sections 71(3), (4), and (6) of Act 959, determined that the offer was acceptable to the prosecution based on the accused’s criminal history, the level of cooperation demonstrated during the investigation, and the accused’s willingness to cooperate in the investigation and prosecution of other persons.
On April 30, 2025, the Court found the plea bargain agreement between the Republic and the accused persons to be satisfactory, and the Judge accepted all of the accused persons’ guilty pleas and convicted them all based on their own plea.
The accused have discharged their financial obligations under the plea agreement.
D13/9/2022, Republic v. Alexander Kwabena Sarfo-Kantanka.
On May 24, 2022, the Office filed criminal charges in the High Court of Kumasi against Alexander Kwabena Sarfo Kantanka, the President’s nominee for the position of Chief Executive of Juaben Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti region, for corruption in connection with a public election.
On April 9, 2024, the Court partially dismissed Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka’s application based on his assertion that there was no case to answer. The Court found that the Republic has established a prima facie case against Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka on three (3) offences. The Court instructed Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka to begin his defence against the three (3) counts.
Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka then filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the High Court’s ruling. He also filed a motion for a stay of proceedings, which would stop the trial indefinitely until the outcome of the appeal.
The High Court dismissed the appeal for a stay of proceedings and ordered that the trial proceed as scheduled. The accused then gave his testimony, and he was cross-questioned. The court set November 28, 2024 as the date for judgement.
When the case was called for judgement, a new judge, Justice Abdul Razak Musah, presided over it. He told the court that the trial judge, Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori, had been reassigned. Justice Abdul Razak Musah also observed that a notice of change of solicitors had been submitted for the accused, and he gave the new legal team more time to evaluate the matter.
Additionally, Justice Abdul Razak Musah noted that the accused had not yet filed his address, therefore he gave him more time to do so. He also delayed the case until January 20, 2025.
On December 3, 2024, the Judicial Service’s Communications Department issued a statement confirming that Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori had been transferred from Kumasi to Accra as part of the 2024 legal year transfers of more than twenty (20) judges at all levels of court.
The article further stated that Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori had given a list of all outstanding judgements and rulings and had been granted authority to deliver them. The article further stated that on November 29, 2024, Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori presented the required Case conclusion Plan for a warrant to complete cases that are nearing conclusion.
As a result, the Office expects Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori to give the decision on January 20, 2025. The judgement was eventually delivered by Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori on May 26, 2015.
The court acquitted and released Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka on the grounds that the evidence did not demonstrate that the various sums of money he supplied to some of the delegates assigned to vote on his nomination were intended to persuade them to vote for him, despite the evidence including an unchallenged audio-visual recording of Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka demanding a refund from some of the delegates after losing the election, as well as an admission in testimony that money was exchanged between the nominee and some of the delegates.
The Office has appealed the judgement to the Court of Appeal, arguing that it cannot be supported by the evidence and that the judge erred in both law and fact.
NR/TL/HC/CCI/10/23 The Republic v. Sumaila Abdul Rahman, Stephen Yir-Eru Engmen, Patrick Seidu, and Andrew Kuundaari
The former Chief Executive, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration of the Northern Development Authority, and the Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited are all on trial in the Criminal Division of the High Court in Tamale.
The four (4) are charged with eleven(11) counts of corruption and corruption-related offences, including conspiracy to directly or indirectly influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract, directly or indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract, corruption by a public officer, and corruption of a public officer.
On April 26, 2024, the Court denied an application by the accused on the grounds that there was no case to answer. The Court concluded that the Republic has built a prima facie case against the accused on all accusations. The accused filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal. The appeal is pending.
The accused began their defence in October 2024. The fourth accused will deliver his defence beginning on October 21.
2025.
CR/0257/2024 The Republic v. Adjenim Boateng Adjei.
The former Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Authority is currently on trial before the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra. Mr. Adjei has been charged with eight (8) counts of profiting from public office and manipulating the procurement process to gain an undue advantage in the awarding of public contracts. The case is deferred until October 20, 2025.
Other cases filed against the OSP
HR/0078/2025 Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta v. Office of the Special Prosecutor and others
The applicant, Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-atta, a former Minister of Finance, filed an originating motion on notice, among other things, to have his photograph and information removed from the OSP’s wanted list, which is published on their website. He further claims reimbursement.
for allegedly violating his right to personal liberty and health.
On June 18, 2025, the court dismissed the applicant’s request for an interlocutory injunction to prevent the OSP from arresting him. The substantive matter is still being heard in court and has been adjourned until October 23, 2025.
GJ/0858/2025, Republic v. Circuit Court 2; ex Parte Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta (interested Party: Office of the Special Prosecutor)
The applicant, Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-atta, a former Minister of Finance, sought to dismiss an arrest warrant issued against him by the Circuit Court in Accra at the request of the OSP. On July 31, 2025, the High Court dismissed the application as lacking merit.
HR/0101/2023: Charles Bissue v. Office of the Special Prosecutor
Charles Bissue, the Secretary of the now-defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), sued the OSP in Accra’s Human Rights Court. Mr. Bissue claimed that the Office violated his human rights by investigating him, labelling him a fugitive from justice after he failed to appear at the Office following notices, and issued a warrant for his arrest.
The Office argued in the action that, save for those who are legally immune from criminal proceedings, no one (including Mr. Bissue) has the right not to be investigated by the Office for suspected corruption and corruption-related acts.
Furthermore, the Office’s power of arrest, like that of all law enforcement agencies, includes the authority to proclaim a person a fugitive from justice if, as in this case, a person evades capture and purposefully makes himself impossible to apprehend.
Furthermore, the Office claimed that the stated order of arrest did not exist and that Mr. Bissue distorted facts based on his unfounded suspicion.
On November 7, 2024, the court dismissed Mr. Bissue’s claims against the office. The Court determined Mr. Bissue’s accusations to be completely baseless. Mr. Bissue then petitioned the Supreme Court for a judicial review and an injunction to prevent the OSP from arresting him while the judicial review motion was being considered. The Supreme Court has barred the original judge from hearing the case. The case will be reassigned to a new judge.
