Ghanaian IT firm West Blue Consulting has become entangled in a widening corruption investigation led by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) into Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) and former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
The company, owned by Valentina Mintah, has faced scrutiny in the past over controversial government contracts. Its senior management is now understood to be assisting the OSP as persons of interest, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.
This development comes months after public concerns were raised over a substantial GHC 95 million payment authorized to West Blue by the previous government.
In August 2024, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa—the Member of Parliament for North Tongu and current Foreign Affairs Minister—disclosed that the government had agreed to pay West Blue GHC 95 million.
The payment was made under a consent judgment involving West Blue, the then-Attorney General, and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). It related to arrears for work carried out under the National Single Window and Integrated Risk Management System contract between 2015 and 2020.
Mr. Ablakwa noted at the time that the sum was nearly 50% lower than the GHC 187.3 million originally sought by the company.
Ownership Questions
Questions have since emerged over the ownership of West Blue at the time the payment was agreed.
In September 2017, a member of the company’s board, Kwame Sowu, confirmed to the Daily Graphic that West Blue had been acquired by Customs World, a Dubai-based firm and a subsidiary of the Ports Customs and Free Zones Corporation (PCFC).
The arrangement reportedly formalized the establishment of Ports and Customs World Ghana Limited.
Critics have questioned why a company reportedly acquired by a foreign entity in 2017 was party to a consent judgment requiring a state payment of GHC 95 million in 2024. Some have called for a fuller examination of West Blue’s operations.
