The High Court in Tamale will today, Tuesday, January 31, 2022, hear the case involving the four persons of the Northern Development Authority charged with corruption.
The accused included Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, the CEO of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), his two deputies – Stepehn Yir-eru Engman and Patrick Seidu, as well as the Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited, Mr. Andrew Kuundaari.
The four have been at the centre of the procurement breaches at the Northern Development Authority (NDA) following an alleged conspiracy to directly or indirectly influence the procurement process in obtaining an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract.
The step follows the findings by the Office of the SP into allegations of procurement breaches at the NDA and A&QS Consortium.
The OSP’s formal investigation into the matter followed a petition filed by Martin Luther Kpebu, a private legal practitioner asking for the probing of the operations of NDA and the actions of its CEO and board chairman.
The complaint alleged that NDA awarded a contract to A&QS Consortium Limited (hereafter, A&QS) on 28 January 2020 for consultancy services for the supervision of some constituencies in the Upper West Region under the IPEP for the contract sum of GHC5.72 million.
However, the OSP in its statement issued on Tuesday, January 24, said: “Mr Abdul-Rahman, Mr Seidu and Mr Andrew Kaandari have been charged with a further count each of “directly or indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract.”
It added that Mr. Yir-eru Engaman has also been charged with a further two counts “of the same offence.”
According to the OSP, the publication forms part of its Corruption Report on its investigation into the activities of the Northern Development Authority, pursuant to Reg. 31 (1) (g) of L.I. 2374.
In line with the development, the Tamale High Court is expected to sit on the matter today as the accused make their first appearance to the court amidst the probe.
