Two individuals under investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in the high-profile Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) revenue-assurance contract case have filed a human rights action in the Ghanaian courts.
They are challenging the OSP’s act of photographing them while holding placards bearing their names and are seeking legal declarations that such actions, and any publication of the images, constitute unlawful violations of their rights.
The applicants are Christian Tetteh Sotie, Managing Director of SML (and former Technical Advisor to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Commissioner-General), and Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA and currently a Manager at SML.
In their court filing, the two men contend that the OSP’s photographing of them with name placards, before any charges have been filed, is unlawful.
They ask the court to declare that (1) the OSP’s action was a breach of their rights, (2) any publication of the photographs would violate their human rights, and (3) that the OSP be restrained from releasing the images.
The SML–GRA contract has drawn significant scrutiny in Ghana after concerns emerged over how the contract was awarded and whether it delivered value to the state. Five civil-society organisations have previously sued the government and SML, seeking the recovery of more than GH¢1 billion, on the grounds that the contract breached procurement laws.
The OSP has confirmed that it is investigating corruption and corruption-related offences in connection with contracts awarded to SML for revenue assurance services in sectors including petroleum and minerals.
While arrests and searches have been executed in the probe (including at SML’s offices), no trial has yet been filed in respect of the two applicants’ case.
