The Fourth Estate has, over the last few years, exposed through investigative stories, incidents of corruption, doubtful contractual integrity, and dishonest dealings within Ghana’s public sector, that have positioned the state to potentially recoup millions in tax payer money that has been lost to corruption.
On the strength of these revelations by our non-profit, public interest and accountability investigative journalism project, Ghana’s prosecutorial authorities have forged dockets and are already in court.
On July 28, 2025, Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, revealed at a press conference that eight individuals involved in financial malfeasance at Ghana’s mandatory national service programme, the National Service Scheme (NSS), had approached his office to negotiate plea bargains. Whatever amount accrues from it will be part of up to USD 260 million that Ghana stands to recoup from a recent spate of incidents of public sector corruption that The Fourth Estate has exposed.
USD 10. 5 million retrievable from Wi-Fi contract with Lifted Logistics
The Fourth Estate published a series of stories on a shady internet Wi-Fi supply contract that the government of Ghana had signed with a company called Lifted Logistics limited, formerly known as Busy Internet. These stories revealed that even though Lifted Logistics was contracted in a sweetheart deal, and paid USD 10. 5 million from 2020 to 2023 to provide internet connection to senior high schools under the government’s free Wi-Fi programme, the company failed to fulfil the contract.
The Fourth Estate has petitioned the Special Prosecutor to investigate the contract, which could lead to the retrieval of up to USD 10.5 million from Lifted Logistics.
USD 92.9m retrievable from shady SML contract
The previous government’s shady contract with Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) for so-called revenue assurance in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector is one of a number of serious corruption allegations that the current government is investigating. Worth USD 452.8 million, the contract was to run for four years and had already led to payment of USD 92.9 million to SML. However, through a series of stories, The Fourth Estate revealed that SML was being paid for virtually no work done. The Fourth Estate has also exposed as false, claims by SML that it had saved the country USD 262.8 million.
The revelations have since led to the termination of aspects of the contract and a public undertaking by President John Mahama to discontinue the contract in whole. A group of civil society organisations have also sued the Ghana government and SML, seeking a nullification of the SML contract and a refund of the USD 92.9 million paid to the company.
USD 106 million questionable sanitation contract abrogated
On June 11, 2025, the Ghana government announced a discontinuation of a long-running contract with local waste management and sanitation services company, Zoomlion. The discontinuation means USD 106 million that was to be paid to Zoomlion has been saved.
The discontinuation follows a series of stories that The Fourth Estate has published, raising issues of corruption and value-for-money doubts about the terms and performance of the contract by Zoomlion. The government has declared the intent to recover any unauthorised payments made to the company.
USD 48.0 million recoverable from NSS ghost names corruption scandal
On June 13, 2025, Ghana’s Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, announced intent to prosecute 12 people in connection with a payroll fraud at the National Service Authority (NSA), the coordinating agency for Ghana’s National Service Scheme.
Up to USD 48.0 million was allegedly stolen through the fraud, popularly called ‘ghost names’ scheme. The Attorney General has announced that some of the persons implicated have opted for plea-bargain arrangements that include a refund of the sums involved.
The prosecutions follow a series of stories that The Fourth Estate published exposing the ghost names scheme at the NSA.
About The Fourth Estate
The Fourth Estate is a non-profit, public interest and accountability investigative journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). It aims to promote independent journalism that holds those in power answerable to the people they govern.
