Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, ahead of the 2024 elections, became a thorn in the flesh of the former Akufo-Addo Bawumia government with his series of exposés.
The North Tongu MP emerged as a vocal critic of the ruling government and its appointees in his fight against wastage in the Ghanaian political space.
Ablakwa was even nicknamed by his supporters and in political discourse as an ‘Intercepter General’ following his publicised investigative work and parliamentary oversight, where he was known for intercepting and exposing various corrupt deals and alleged state capture.
Take a walk with us today as we look back at the top nine major scandals that the now Minister of Foreign Affairs exposed while he was in opposition.
See the list below:
- The National Cathedral Project
Ablakwa became one of the most vocal critics of the National Cathedral of Ghana project when he accused the National Cathedral secretariat of criminal undertakings involving identity theft and financial mismanagement.
The North Tongu MP alleged procurement irregularities, lack of transparency, questionable payments, and the misuse of public funds.
His investigations highlighted payments made to JNS Talent Centre Ltd and raised questions about the identities and roles of key project officials.
Ablakwa alleged that JNS Talent Centre Ltd received GH¢2.6 million from the National Cathedral Secretariat.
He further asserted that the company’s director, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, was the same person as Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng, a member of the Cathedral’s Board of Trustees, raising concerns about a conflict of interest.
In recent times, President Mahama, speaking during a sod-cutting ceremony for the Sunayi-Atronie-Achrensua project on Sunday, December 21, 2025, stated that the investigations into the National Cathedral have not been abandoned.
President Mahama, at the sod-cutting, stated, “The $97 million used to dig the pit for the National Cathedral will be thoroughly scrutinised. We have requested the Auditor-General to conduct a forensic audit to expose any wrongdoing.
Anyone found to have embezzled state funds will face the law, so we have not abandoned the matter; investigations are ongoing.”
- Akufo-Addo’s Chartered Presidential Flights
Okudzeto Ablakwa, in another expose uncobered that the then President Akufo-Addo frequently travelled in luxurious Chartered Presidential Flights.
He constantly published details of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s foreign trips, arguing that the government was spending excessively on luxury chartered aircraft despite Ghana already owning a presidential jet, sparking a national debate on government expenditure.
Ablakwa alleged that President Akufo-Addo was travelling in a € 20,000-an-hour on profligate chartering of ultra-luxury jets when Ghana owns a modern presidential jet in pristine condition.
The MP who was serving as the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in one instance alleged that the President spent over GH¢4 million on his 10-day trip to some European countries and Guyana.
He also highlighted that in May, 2021, Ghana paid £15,000 an hour as the President opted for luxurious aircraft instead of using the presidential jet on his travels to France, Belgium and South Africa.
- US$48m contract awarded by Ursula without PPA approval
Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa also alleged that then Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful awarded a multi-million dollar contract without the necessary procurement approval.
On July 6, 2023, Ablakwa, in a post on his social media handles, provided correspondence between himself and the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to back his claims.
However, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful and her ministry denied any wrongdoing.
- GH¢187 million ‘Kitchen Scandal’
The North Tongu MP also alleged that he had saved Ghana the payment of GH¢187 million in judgment debts through his publication on a transaction.
Ablakwa disclosed that Ghana would have lost GHS187 million
According to him, he saved Ghana taxpayers GH¢187 million in judgment in the case between the government and a private company, Blue Skye, which he named as the ‘Kitchen Scandal’.
“In a social media publication, Ablakwa alleged that Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, cousin of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was seeking to enforce payment of GH¢187.3 million judgment debt to his client, West Blue, even though the current government has varied the contract.
He said that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government did a value-for-money audit on the contract in question and concluded that West Blue rather owes the government of Ghana and not the other way round”, reports stated.
The “Heaven Scandal” was the expose in which Ablakwa raised alarm over the sale of prime lands around the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to a private company under some shady circumstances.
In his exposé published on social media on Monday, October 2, 2023, Ablakwa accused the President and the Minister for Finance of approving the transaction led by the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) in a deal on the blindside of parliament.
He alleged, “On the blind side of Parliament and the Ghanaian people, President Akufo-Addo and Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta have granted approval for our prime airport lands to be handed over under the most shady of circumstances to a company known as Heaven Builders Limited”.
He accused the Managing Director of GACL, Mrs Pamela Djamson-Tettey, in 2022, through correspondence with the Managing Director of Heaven Builders, of offering some 38.14 acres of the said land at a total cost of US$85,021,340.00.
Ablakwa highlighted that the deal strangely failed to disclose how the supposed infrastructure cost was known, adding that it is even more shocking that the GACL would not be allowed to raise its own funding for the supposed development.
The North Tongu MP pegged the commercial value of land around the Airport enclave at an average of $4 million per acre, revealing that Heaven Builders would have made an excess of US$ 152 million profit at the expense of the state.
- SSNIT Hotels Sale to Rock City Hotel
Ablakwa exposed the proposed sale of four state-owned hotels owned by Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to Rock City Hotel, which is linked to then-Agriculture Minister Bryan Acheampong.
The MP argued that politically exposed persons should not acquire state assets and pushed for greater scrutiny of the transaction.
Ablakwa, in his post titled “SSNIT-ROCK CITY GROUP SALE OF STAKE IN SSNIT HOTELS NEGOTIATION,” read, “Intercepted memos from SSNIT on Hon. Bryan Acheampong’s Rock City offer for the purchase of SSNIT’s hotels confirm that, but for my timely intervention in exposing the deal, Ghanaian workers would have been terribly shortchanged as the transaction does not guarantee value for money.
The SSNIT memos in my possession reveal that SSNIT’s objective expectations based on valuation reports of 60% stake in the 4 hotels (Labadi, La Palm, Ridge Royal & Elmina) ranges from a minimum value of US$80,406,630.00 to a maximum of US$121,315,643.00.
From the intercepted memos, Hon. Bryan Acheampong’s Rock City offer fell far below the minimum value of the 4 hotels. Hon. Bryan Acheampong’s below par bid was US$61,200,000.00.
Considering that SSNIT’s own minimum value based on expert advice was pegged at US$80,406,630.00, the Hon. Bryan Acheampong/Rock City offer did not meet this minimum threshold by as much as US$19,206,630.00.
When compared to the upper limit, Hon. Bryan Acheampong’s offer fell short by a staggering US$60,115,643.00
It is instructive to discover that whereas SSNIT’s minimum offer for La Palm Royal Hotel is US$37,897,200.00, Hon. Bryan Acheampong merely offered US$21,000,000.00 (a significant variance of US$16,897,200.00).
In the case of Elmina Beach Resort, SSNIT was advised to go for a minimum of US$4,709,430.00; however, Hon. Bryan Acheampong offered a paltry US$2,400,000.00.
- Single-Sourced Cocoa Road Contracts
Ahead of the 2024 elections, Ablakwa also alleged that companies linked to relatives of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia received lucrative single-sourced cocoa road contracts.
He mentioned procurement records showing contracts worth about GH¢83.7 million awarded to companies associated with Abraham Bawumia and Aneta Kaminska Bawumia.
- 22,000 bags of expired moshosho rice
Also, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa alleged that a total of 22,000 bags of expired and repackaged rice were distributed to various Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country.
He disclosed that the consignment was distributed through the Free Senior High School Secretariat in February 2024.
According to the MP, he received a tip-off and also initiated a personal investigation into the matter.
“The National Food Buffer Stock Company clearly conspired with a company known as Lamens Investments Africa Limited. They used the Buffer Stock storage facility in Kumasi, in the Ashanti region, to repackage expired rice. This company brought in rice from India, the brand ‘Moshosho rice’, which expired in December 2023. Upon realising the rice had expired, they conspired with the Buffer Stock company to use their premises for re-bagging.”
He explained that the rice was repackaged into locally made sacks, “with inscription ‘ECOWAS’, ‘Made in Ghana rice’, but without an expiry date.”
- DRIP equipment procurement inflated
The North Tongu MP also alleged that the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government’s DRIP equipment procurement was inflated by $102m.
He disclosed that parliamentary investigation has uncovered that the cost of equipment procured for the project was inflated by over $102 million (GH₵1.6) billion.
In a social media post, Ablakwa disclosed that the DRIP equipment, sourced mainly from Chinese manufacturers LiuGong and Shaanxi Automobile Holding Group, and supplied through J.A. Plantpool, a Zoomlion subsidiary, was bought at prices inflated by up to 217 per cent.
In recent times, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has sued Jospong CEO Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong and his company, J. A Plantpool Ghana Limited.
The suit stems from an alleged excess payment of $2 million under the NPP government’s District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP).
