The four individuals standing trial for allegedly bloating a contract sum from GH¢5.72 million to GH¢10.4 million have pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption before the High Court sitting in Tamale.
The accused persons were arraigned before the court Tuesday morning (January 31, 2023).
They have been granted bail in the sum of 2 million Ghana cedis each with three sureties to be justified with landed properties.
In addition, they are to deposit their passports with the Court.
The first accused person, Sumaila Abdul Rahman, has been stopped from traveling out of Ghana till the determination of the case after he pleaded he has a scheduled trip concerning his work as Chief Executive Officer of NDA.
The rest of the accused persons are two deputies of NDA; Stephen Yir-Eru-Engmen and Patrick Seidu, and the Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited, Andrew Kuundaari.
The case has been adjourned to 28 February 2023 for Case Management Conference.
Background
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has charged the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), Sumalia Abdul-Rahman, two of his deputies, and a businessman with inflating a contract sum from GH5.72 million to GH10.4 million.
The contract was for consultancy services for the implementation of a series of poverty alleviation projects in the Upper West Region’s 11 constituencies.
The contract was based on the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), a government initiative as part of the “One Constituency, One Million Dollar” agenda to spur development and reduce poverty in the country’s 275 constituencies.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
