The Accra High Court has dismissed an application by lawyers for former National Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer, Hanan Abdul-Wahab, to strike out the entire charge sheet against him and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni.
Instead, the court directed the prosecution to amend only counts 9 and 14, allowing the criminal trial to proceed.
The couple is facing 20 charges, including allegations of causing financial loss to the state in connection with the operations of the National Buffer Stock Company and the School Feeding Programme.
Lead counsel and former Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, had argued that the charge sheet was fundamentally flawed because it failed to provide enough detail for the accused to prepare an effective defence.
However, the court rejected the request to strike out all the charges.
Reacting to the ruling, Mr Dame announced that his legal team would appeal the decision.
“Even though they’ve been ordered to amend some of the charges, we’ll still file an appeal. We’ll file an appeal against it,” he said.
“I think the decision was not so sound, even with the greatest respect to the judge.”
Mr Dame maintained that several counts combined multiple payments into single charges without identifying the specific transactions, dates or locations involved.
“You cannot have various payments, the number of which we do not know, when each of them occurred we do not know, where they occurred we do not know; they are not disclosing it on the charge sheet, and then you say that you’re not going to order them to amend and that charge is proper. That charge cannot be proper,” he said.
He further argued that: “You cannot have a sum of 50 million put together in one count and state in the same count that it consists of several payments. Which several payments? When did they take place? Are they related? Definitely they’re not related.”
Explaining that Buffer Stock supplies food to institutions across the country, Mr Dame stressed that each transaction should be clearly identified.
He insisted the appeal was aimed at protecting his client’s right to a fair trial, not delaying proceedings.
“My consideration professionally is to ensure that the rights of my client as an accused person are protected in every regard before the trial commences. It’s not just a matter of delay or anything.”
“It’s just a matter of ensuring that he properly ascertains the charges that are brought against him.”
Using a boxing analogy, he added: “He cannot be proceeding when his hands have been tied behind his back and his eyes blindfolded. Definitely, they cannot be blindfolding the accused person and ordering him to box in the dark.”
Mr Abdul-Wahab and his wife are accused of orchestrating a scheme to divert public funds intended for NAFCO and the School Feeding Programme for their personal benefit.
