A High Court in Tamale has convicted four people, including three former senior officials of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), of seven counts of corruption and corruption-related offences involving procurement contracts under the government’s Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP).
The convictions were secured on Friday, October 23, 2026, following a prosecution by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The convicts are Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, former Chief Executive 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, a private company.
According to the OSP, the four were convicted on seven out of the 11 counts brought against them in connection with procurement contracts awarded by the NDA under the IPEP.
The offences included conspiracy to influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a contract, directly or indirectly influencing the procurement process to gain an unfair advantage, corruption by a public officer and corruption of a public officer.
Court imposes financial penalties
Although the court convicted the four accused persons, it declined to impose custodial sentences.
The OSP said the court based its decision on the advanced ages of the convicts and the prosecution’s swift intervention to prevent unlawful payments under the contracts.
According to the prosecution, the court considered that no loss had been caused to the Republic because the intervention prevented the payments.
The court instead imposed a penalty of 1,000 penalty units for each count.
OSP reiterates commitment to fighting corruption
The prosecution was initiated and conducted by the OSP following investigations into a complaint filed by legal practitioner Martin Kpebu.
In a statement issued on October 23, the anti-corruption body reaffirmed its commitment to protecting public funds and ensuring accountability among public officials and their collaborators in the private sector.
