The Tamale High Court’s Criminal Division has postponed its long-awaited judgment in the corruption trial of four accused persons linked to the Northern Development Authority (NDA), adjourning the case to May 29, 2026, after indicating the ruling was not yet ready.
The court had been expected to deliver its verdict on Thursday, April 23, 2026, following nearly four years of proceedings. The bench also declined requests from both defence and prosecution counsel to make further submissions before announcing the adjournment.
The accused persons are Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, former Chief Executive Officer of the NDA; Stephen Yir-Eru Engmen, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations; Patrick Seidu, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration; and Andrew Kuundaari, Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited. All four face charges of corruption and related offences connected to procurement activities under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP). The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) alleges they conspired to manipulate procurement processes to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of consultancy contracts, with a disputed contract value rising from an approved GH¢5.7 million to GH¢10.4 million. All accused have pleaded not guilty.
The adjournment arrives at a particularly sensitive moment for the OSP. On April 15, 2026, a separate division of the High Court in Accra declared the OSP’s independent prosecutorial mandate void and directed the Attorney General to take over cases the office has been prosecuting. The OSP has since filed an appeal and is seeking a stay of execution of that ruling, while the constitutional question of whether the office holds independent prosecutorial authority under Ghana’s constitution is now before the Supreme Court. The outcome of that legal challenge is widely seen as having implications for several ongoing high-profile corruption cases pursued by the office.
The NDA case, which originated from a petition by private legal practitioner Martin Luther Kpebu and was filed by the OSP in January 2023, is among the most prominent prosecutions in the office’s history. All parties must now wait until the close of May for the court’s final determination.
