Former Finance Official Ernest Darko Akore Wanted by OSP

The Ofiice of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has declared a former Chef de Cabinet (Technical Advisor) at the Finance Ministry wanted in relation to the infamous SML deal.

The OSP issued a public notice on Wednesday, July 16, 2025 to inform the general public about Akore’s new status.

The wanted individual was described as a 67-year-old male with brown skin, black eyes and hair, and a dual Ghanaian-American national.

He is believed to be hiding in either the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, or South Africa.

The OSP added: “The suspect, a former Chef de Cabinet at Ghana’s Ministry of Finance, is wanted in relation to ongoing investigation on corruption and corruption related offences concering the Revenue Assurance Contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).

Anyone with information about the suspect, who is wanted on a warrant issued by the High Court’s Criminal Division, is encouraged to contact the dedicated WhatsApp hotlines 0554494499 and 0554484488.

The OSP’s move comes as attempts to extradite Ken Ofori-Atta from the United States continues to go through the legal processes.

According to the most recent reporting, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have satisfied themselves via their checks that the probes into the former Finance Minister are legitimate and not part of a witchhunt.

The bureaucratic step clears the way for the extradition request to progress to its next stage.

Ofori-Atta is also wanted in relation to several probes, one of them being the SML deal that has led to the declaration of Akore as a wanted man.

Analysis of the OSP declaring Ernest Akore wanted

The latest move by the OSP deserves applause as he continues to work on bringing to account some of the individuals involved in looting the country for the past eight years.

Most of the time when we speak about corruption, people immediately think of the politicians, but most of their crimes would not occur if civil servants stood up and did their jobs properly.

These civil servants in many instances make themselves accomplices – either willingly or unwillingly – to the corrupt deals that politicians engineer.

Ghana would be so much better if people like Akore actually did their jobs rather than helping politicians to destroy the country.