Former NDA Chief Executives convicted over corruption-related offences

The High Court in Tamale has convicted four individuals, including three former executives from the Northern Development Authority (NDA), for seven counts of corruption and corruption-related offences. The accused are Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, former NDA Chief Executive, Stephen Yir-Eru Engmen, former Deputy Chief Executive responsible for Operations, Patrick Seidu, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration, and Andrew Kuundaari, Chief Executive of the private company A&QS Consortium Limited.

The court chose not to impose jail time on the convicts, taking into account their advanced ages and the swift action taken by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP). The OSP's intervention prevented any unlawful payments from the contracts, thus avoiding a financial loss for the state. Each of the convicted individuals was fined 1,000 penalty units for each of the seven counts in which they were found guilty.

The charges against the four individuals included conspiracy to influence the procurement process for personal gain, directly or indirectly manipulating the procurement process to secure an unfair advantage, corruption by a public officer, and corruption of a public officer. The prosecution was carried out by the OSP following a complaint lodged by legal practitioner Martin Kpebu.