4 officials of Northern Development Authority face 11 new charges over procurement breaches

The Office of the Special Prosecutor has filed 11 new charges against four officials from the Northern Development Authority (NDA), accusing them of procurement breaches.

The accused include Sumaila Abdul Rahman, former CEO of the NDA, his deputies Stephen Yir Aru Engmen and Patrick Seidu, and the CEO of A&Q Consortium. 

They have pleaded not guilty to all charges and were granted bail of GH¢2,000,000, with a re-appearance date of April 18, 2023.

Last year, the Office of the Special Prosecutor launched investigations into suspected corruption at the NDA over a contract awarded to A&Q Consortium for consultancy supervisory services under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP).

The investigations were prompted by a complaint from a private legal practitioner, Martin Luther Kpebu. 

The complaint alleged that the NDA had awarded a contract to A&QS Consortium Limited for consultancy services in the Upper West Region for a sum of GH¢5,720,000, but the contract sum was later illegally increased to GH¢10,400,000.

The initial charge of conspiracy to commit a criminal offence of directly or indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract has been withdrawn, and 11 new charges have been filed against the accused, including corruption by a public officer.

The Special Prosecutor's investigations revealed that the accused intended to influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage for A&QS by increasing the approved procurement total contract sum by an amount of GH¢4,680,000.