A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy, has called for increased scrutiny of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s leadership following corruption allegations involving some of his former appointees.
Dr Kennedy argued that the former president must answer questions about what actions he took while officials under his administration—particularly former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta—were allegedly misusing state resources.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, November 22, 2025, he said, “If we are talking about the sins of Ken Ofori-Atta, he was reporting to somebody. I think that, at some point, we need to be asking the former president (Nana Addo) what he was doing while his ministers were looting our coffers. He has a moral responsibility to address some of these issues.”
His comments were made during a discussion on the ongoing case against Ofori-Atta, who is expected to face multiple corruption-related charges in court.
Dr Kennedy noted that Ghana’s governance challenges are worsened by a persistent pattern in which sitting governments shield their allies from prosecution, even when evidence of wrongdoing is presented.
He cautioned that this entrenched culture of political protectionism undermines accountability, weakens public trust in national institutions, and urgently needs reform.
“We need to move away from a system where being an incumbent seems to insulate you from judicial processes, allowing you to act with impunity. In effect, we appear to be practising a serial one-party dictatorship that lasts for a four- or eight-year term, after which another party comes in to make noise about it,” he stated.
Ken Ofori-Atta, Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), and six others have been charged with 78 counts of procurement breaches and causing the state a financial loss of GH¢1.4 billion the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) at the High Court in Accra on Tuesday, November 18, 2025.
Those charged include Ernest Darko Akore, former Chef de Cabinet at the Ministry of Finance; Emmanuel Kofi Nti, ex-Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA); Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, also a former GRA Commissioner General; Isaac Crentsil and Kwadwo Damoah, former Customs Division Commissioners; and Evans Adusei, CEO of SML, which is listed as the eighth accused.
The charges cover conspiracy to commit procurement fraud, causing financial loss to the state, abuse of public office for personal gain, willful oppression, and manipulation of procurement processes.
The OSP alleged the accused worked together between June 2017 and December 2024 to award contracts for transaction audits, external price verification, and measurement audits of downstream petroleum products.
These contracts were allegedly influenced by patronage and false claims about SML’s capacity.
Ofori-Atta is accused of facilitating GH¢468.5 million in payments to SML in 2019 for services under a contract that lacked parliamentary or Public Procurement Authority approval.
