Over the past year, Ghana’s attention has been on Ken Ofori-Atta, the former Finance Minister, who is facing corruption and corruption-related offences charges by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

 Mr Ofori-Atta, who served in the President Nana Akufo-Addo administration, is implicated in the shady revenue assurance deal with Strategic Mobilisation Limited ( SML) and is currently in the United States, fighting an extradition to Ghana to face justice.

The attention on Ken Ofori-Atta is justifiable, considering the office he held. However, there’s another man implicated and charged in the same SML scandal who hardly gets any attention.

He is Ernest Darko Akore.

Ernest Akore worked closely with Ken Ofori-Atta as the Chef de Cabinet of the Minister of Finance and signed documents on Mr Ofori-Atta’s behalf, one of which my team and I published in 2023 when we first broke the SML story.

Unlike Ken Ofori-Atta, whose legal status in the United States has expired, Ernest Akore did not need a visa to travel to the United States three weeks before the 2024 election.

He holds a U.S. passport, in addition to his Ghanaian passport. This may make his return to Ghana harder, unlike his former boss, who could be deported from the U.S. if his change-of-status application fails.

Ernest Darko Akore, born in Accra, Ghana, on February 5, 1958, left Ghana on November 19, 2024, for New York on Delta Airlines Flight 156.

Mr Akore travelled on a 10-year U.S. passport, issued on August 5, 2021, and expiring on August 4, 2031. He also holds a Ghanaian passport, issued in Accra on January 3, 2020, and valid until January 2, 2030.

He has been charged by the OSP for the offences of:

1. Conspiracy to commit the criminal offence of Causing Financial Loss to the Republic contrary to sections 23(1) and 179A (3)(a) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

2. Conspiracy to commit the criminal offence of Willful Oppression contrary to sections 23(1) and 239(1) &(3) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) as amended by section 1 of the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1034).

3. 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).

Mr Akore is wanted in Ghana to face justice together with Ken Ofori-Atta, who was arrested in the United States by ICE agents on the morning of January 6, 2026.

Mr Ofori-Atta was arrested at the entrance to the Westlight apartment complex at 1111 24th Street NW, Washington, D.C.

He has been released on bail pending the hearing of his case.

Ken Ofori-Atta, born on November 7, 1959, left Ghana on January 4, 2025. He departed from Terminal 3 of Accra International Airport and travelled on United Airlines Flight 997 to Washington, D.C., in the United States.

He travelled on a Ghanaian passport. His five-year U.S. visa was issued on February 16, 2021, and expired on February 14, 2026.

Mr Ofori-Atta also has valid visas to the United Kingdom and Canada. His UK Visa will expire on April 21, 2032, and his Canadian visa will expire on May 31, 2031.

According to official and unofficial sources, the two men have no intention of returning to Ghana to face the charges filed by the OSP in November 2025.