Evatex Logistics Limited has threatened legal action against the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) over the termination of a controversial auditing and revenue assurance contract at the Kotoka International Airport. The company, through its lawyers K-Archy & Company, has demanded GACL rescind the termination notice within seven days or face a lawsuit seeking to recover $64.6 million—an amount Evatex claims to have invested in the project.
In a letter to GACL, Evatex described the contract termination as “unacceptable,” emphasizing it had already commenced operations and submitted initial audit reports. Under the contract, Evatex was entitled to 15% of any revenue it uncovered through its auditing work. However, GACL maintains the company has not generated any revenue since starting operations in April 2025, despite the contract being signed in December 2024.
Legal and Regulatory Violations
The contract termination came amid investigations exposing serious breaches of Ghana’s procurement laws. A letter dated July 8, 2025, from GACL’s Managing Director, Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, issued a one-month notice of termination. Investigative journalists Evans Aziamor-Mensah, Adwoa Adobea-Owusu, and Manasseh Azure Awuni reported that Evatex lacked the capacity to execute the contract and secured it under questionable circumstances.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has since launched a probe into the deal, arresting several officials, including former GACL board chair Paul Adom-Otchere. The contract is also under scrutiny for possible procurement violations and misleading claims submitted to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).
Unlicensed to Audit
A key issue raised is that Evatex and its sister company, Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML), are not licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG), to perform auditing and revenue assurance services. According to the ICAG, under the 2020 Act 1058, firms engaged in such activities must be licensed or face sanctions including fines or imprisonment. An ICAG response to a Right to Information request confirmed that neither Evatex nor SML holds such a licence.
Additionally, when Evatex won the airport contract, it did not even list auditing and revenue assurance among its official business activities. These were only added to its company profile on February 6, 2025—three months after securing the contract. Tax and SSNIT documents show Evatex was dormant in 2022 and 2023, had no employees in early 2024, and by August of that year had only one registered worker.
Suspected Contract Irregularities
The Evatex contract, awarded just three days before the 2024 elections, is suspected to have been backdated. Internal documents from GACL show inconsistencies in the timeline between PPA approval and the contract signing. For example, while the PPA approval was received on December 3, 2024, the contract was dated December 4, before the procurement team was even instructed to proceed on December 11.
GACL’s justification to the PPA for sole-sourcing the contract also lacked supporting evidence. The approval letter claimed Evatex had “a long and successful track record” but failed to provide team CVs or technical documentation. Despite these omissions, the PPA approved the contract without raising concerns. Even in the final signed contract, the section for team composition remained blank.
Links Between Evatex and SML
The investigation revealed deep connections between Evatex and Strategic Mobilisation Limited. Both companies are owned and led by Evans Adusei, who signed contracts on behalf of each. The email address on Evatex’s website is the same as that of Evans Timbers Limited, the parent company of SML.
Moreover, many of the personnel listed by Evatex for the airport contract were current or former SML staff, including:
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Hamdam Abubakar, SML’s Head of Engineering
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Prince Opoku Sarpong, Head of IT at SML
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Isaac Crentsil, former Customs Commissioner and now General Manager at SML
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Philip Jude Mensah, a former GRA Legal Head turned SML employee, who witnessed the Evatex-GACL contract
Evatex, according to critics, appears to be a front for SML—an entity already under investigation for receiving over $141 million in auditing contracts from the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority.
Expert Opinions and Public Concerns
Procurement expert Kobina Ata-Bedu argued that Evatex and SML had no legal grounds to bid for audit-related contracts without ICAG licences. Ben Boakye, Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, described the entry of Evatex into the GACL contract as "bizarre," noting that the company did not even make a formal presentation to the GACL board before being awarded the deal.
Boakye said the use of a different company name—Evatex instead of SML—suggests an attempt to obscure scrutiny:
“If they were genuinely convinced that what they are doing is generating returns, I don’t see why they would rather metamorphose into another company to go bid for another government project.”
Conclusion
The Evatex-GACL contract is now the subject of intense public and legal scrutiny, with growing calls for accountability. As the OSP continues its investigations, Evatex’s threat to sue for $64.6 million adds another layer of complexity to a deal marred by regulatory breaches, questionable procurement practices, and undisclosed corporate affiliations.
Story By: Afia Ohenewaa Akyerem