In Ghana, every election seems to come with a new kind of uncertainty, not just for politicians, but for businesses. Contracts change hands, projects stall, and companies once hailed as national champions suddenly find themselves fighting for survival. It is a familiar, painful pattern. One that suggests that in this country, when power changes, progress dies.
The latest episode in this recurring drama is unfolding around Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), Lightwave Ghana E-Health Solutions Limited, and Zipline, three firms once celebrated for innovation and service delivery but now caught in the political crossfire following the change of government on January 7, 2025, when President John Dramani Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) took office.
The SML Saga – From Partner to Pariah
Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), a wholly Ghanaian-owned company, was contracted by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to enhance revenue assurance in petroleum, customs, and other sectors. For years, the company’s systems were credited with improving transparency in downstream petroleum operations, boosting taxable petroleum volumes by 92 percent, and generating over GH¢20 billion in verified state revenue.
But all that changed when the new administration arrived.
Following a high-profile investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) into SML’s contracts with the GRA, the company’s future now hangs in the balance. The OSP, led by Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, alleged that there was no genuine need for SML’s services and that its contracts were secured through “self-serving official patronage, sponsorship, and promotion based on false and unverified claims.”
Those conclusions were enough for the government to terminate SML’s contracts, but the company insists it has done nothing wrong.
In a response, Cephas Boyuo, lead counsel for SML, said the company would “present all relevant documents before the appropriate authorities,” adding that “SML remains proud of the work done, the controls that governed it, and the measurable value created for Ghana.”
SML maintains that its operations were lawful, transparent, and performance-based. Payments, the company says, were made only after independently verified results, through technical validation and report reconciliation under GRA oversight.
The firm has also disputed the OSP’s assertion that GH¢125 million should be recovered by the state. “In fact, the State owes SML,” the company noted, warning that the government’s decision could cost Ghana far more in lost expertise, trust, and revenue.
Lightwave’s Ordeal – E-Health Under Political Surgery
The story of Lightwave Ghana E-Health Solutions Limited mirrors that of SML. What began as a proud example of Ghanaian technological innovation in healthcare has now become the subject of political and bureaucratic crossfire.
Lightwave’s troubles began when Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh accused the company of underperformance and claimed that the country’s Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS) (the backbone of the country’s e-health project) was being “controlled from India.” He also suggested that Lightwave had been paid 77 percent of its contract sum despite completing less than half the work.
The company described those claims as false, misleading, and damaging.
Lightwave’s journey began in 2015, founded by Ghanaian entrepreneur Sampson Djaba to digitise healthcare delivery across the country. The company, fully Ghanaian-owned and employing over 150 professionals, successfully piloted Ghana’s first electronic medical records system in 2017. Based on that success, the Ministry of Health (MoH) signed a US$100 million contract in 2019 to expand the system to 950 facilities nationwide.
At the heart of the controversy is the question of data control. Lightwave insists all patient data “remains the property of the Ministry of Health,” stored securely in servers located within the Ministry’s data centre in Accra. “The claim that our system is controlled from India is completely false,” the company stated.
On the question of payments, Lightwave argues that the Minister’s figures are “a manipulation of numbers.” According to the company, the project’s progress was measured not by the number of facilities alone but by their type and complexity. By the end of 2024, it had completed installations in 253 major hospitals, including all teaching, regional, and district hospitals — representing 72 percent of the project’s contract value.
“The claim that we were overpaid for underperforming is mathematically and factually wrong,” Lightwave said in its statement and added, “It’s like saying a party lost an election because it won only five out of sixteen regions without checking the actual votes.”
The company fears that political mischaracterisation of its work could cripple a health system already dependent on digital records for patient management and policy planning.
Zipline – The Next in Line?
While SML and Lightwave fight to save their reputations and businesses, Zipline Ghana, the drone delivery service known for transporting medical supplies to remote communities, is rumoured to be the next target.
The company’s partnership with government hospitals under the previous administration helped Ghana become a global model for medical drone logistics. But insiders say the new administration is reviewing Zipline’s contracts and tax arrangements, a move seen by many as the beginning of yet another politically motivated corporate purge.
The Politics of Business Survival
These cases are not isolated. They are part of a broader trend where Ghanaian enterprises, especially those with government contracts, find themselves in peril every time political power changes hands.
Since January, the Mahama administration has reversed several policies and incentives introduced under the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, including the cancellation of tax waivers for companies under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme. For many businesses, these reversals threaten jobs, investor confidence, and long-term sustainability.
Economic analysts and the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, warn that such politically driven disruptions create a chilling effect on private sector participation in public projects.
“Investors, both local and foreign, are losing confidence because success in Ghana seems tied not to performance, but to political patronage,” said Mr. Afenyo-Markin, who is also a businessman.
A Cycle That Must Be Broken
The tragedies of SML, Lightwave, and possibly Zipline highlight a deeper national problem – thus the politicisation of enterprise. When each new government views the achievements of its predecessor as illegitimate, progress is dismantled in the name of political correction.
The result is predictable: projects stall, jobs are lost, and the economy suffers. Companies that should be competing on innovation and efficiency instead spend time defending their existence before political committees and investigative bodies.
For a country aspiring to industrial transformation and digital leadership, this endless cycle of destruction and reinvention is costly and self-defeating.
As one industry observer put it bluntly, “Ghana doesn’t need another change of government to grow; it needs a change of attitude.”
Until politics stops deciding which company deserves to succeed, the story will remain the same – power changes, progress dies, and business bleeds.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliamentary Correspondent