Christian Tetteh Sotie, Managing Director of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), and Isaac Crentsil, a former Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA, have initiated a human rights suit against the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The two, who are currently subjects of an OSP investigation into the SML revenue-assurance contract, argue that the photographing of them while holding placards with their names constitutes a breach of their rights to dignity and privacy.
They are seeking judicial declarations that the OSP’s conduct and any use or publication of those photographs — was unlawful.
The applicants — who are part of a wider group under OSP investigation alongside former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta — maintain that the photographing of suspects prior to formal charges being filed is inconsistent with constitutional protections of dignity and presumption of innocence.
In documents filed before the court, they argue that being photographed with name placards — without any formal charge — violates their constitutional rights. They are asking the court to declare the act illegal, prohibit the release of the photos, and affirm that any such publication would breach their human rights.
Due to questions about how the contract was allocated and whether it provided value to the state, the SML–GRA contract has come under intense examination in Ghana.
Earlier this year, five civil society organisations sued the government and SML, demanding the recovery of over GH¢1 billion, alleging that the contract violated procurement laws.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has since launched a probe into suspected corruption and related offences involving SML’s operations in petroleum and mineral revenue monitoring.
Despite arrests and searches carried out as part of the investigation — including at SML’s offices — no formal charges have been filed yet against the two men now pursuing their own human rights case.
