The Date, Visas and More: Manasseh shares details of how Ofori-Atta left Ghana

Award-winning investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has shared details of his investigation into how the former Minister of Finance, who has been charged with several corruption-related offences by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in the SML case, left the country.

According to Manasseh, the investigation he conducted revealed that Ofori-Atta left Ghana on January 4, 2025, three days before the swearing-in of President John Dramani Mahama, who was elected on December 7, 2024.

He said that the former finance minister left Ghana with three valid visas: one for the United States of America (US), one for Canada, and the other for the United Kingdom (UK).

“My investigation has also revealed that Ken Ofori-Atta, whose date of birth is November 7, 1959, left Ghana on January 4, 2025. He departed from Terminal 3 of Kotoka International Airport and travelled on United Airlines Flight 997 to Washington, D.C., in the United States.

“Ken Ofori-Atta travelled on a Ghanaian passport and has valid visas to the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States,” Manasseh wrote in a write-up copied to GhanaWeb.

He added, “Ken Ofori-Atta’s US visa will expire on February 14, 2026, about three months from now. His UK visa will expire on April 21, 2032, and his Canadian visa will expire on May 31, 2031.”

The renowned investigative journalist also disclosed that Ernest Darko Akore, a former technical advisor at the Ministry of Finance, who has also been slapped with charges in the SML case, left Ghana in November 2024.

“Ernest Darko Akore, born on February 5, 1958, left Ghana on November 19, 2024. He travelled to New York on Delta Airlines Flight 156. He departed through Terminal 3 of Kotoka International Airport.

“Ernest Darko Akore travelled on a ten-year US passport, which expires on August 4, 2031,” he wrote.

On November 18, 2025, the OSP formally charged Ken Ofori-Atta and seven others with 78 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences.

The charges include conspiracy to directly or indirectly influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a contract, among other violations, in the award of a revenue assurance contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML).

According to the OSP, the charges, filed on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, constitute violations of section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and section 92(2)(b) of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).

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Portions of the suit, filed at the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra under case number CR/0106/2026 and shared by the OSP, read: “Conspiracy to commit the criminal offence of directly or indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract, contrary to section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and section 92(2)(b) of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).”

The other seven individuals charged include:

* Ernest Darko Akore, former Chef de Cabinet to the Minister of Finance;

* Emmanuel Kofi Nti, former Commissioner-General of the GRA;

* Rev Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former Commissioner-General of the GRA;

* Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA and General Manager of SML;

* Kwadwo Damoah, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA and current Member of Parliament for Jaman South;

* Evans Adusei; and

* Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML).

BAI

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