Anti-corruption campaigner Vitus Azeem has welcomed ongoing investigations into the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) scandal, but says it is premature to conclude that the government has improved its standing in the fight against corruption.
Speaking to ABC News GH on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Azeem said, “This is something we have been expecting for some time because the report (by The Fourth Estate)has already spelled out these allegations. Ghanaians expect action—monies recovered, people prosecuted and jailed.”
He described the arrest of three former Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) officials as a positive first step but warned that many investigations do not lead to meaningful prosecution.
Azeem added that while the arrests signal movement in the right direction, “It is too early to say it has increased confidence in the fight against corruption. We need more to be done—more prosecutions, more monies recovered.”
His comments come after the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) detained Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former GRA Commissioner General, Dr. Isaac Crentsil, former Commissioner of Customs, and Christian Tetteh Sottie, former technical advisor.
The trio was picked up after failing to meet bail conditions and are being investigated over a scandal involving over $141 million paid to SML under questionable contracts exposed by investigative journalists from The Fourth Estate.
