Former NDA CEO, Two Deputies Convicted Over Procurement Breaches

Story By: Deborah Adorsu

The High Court in Tamale has convicted former Chief Executive of the Northern Development Authority, Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, and three others over procurement breaches.

The other convicts are his two former deputies — Stephen Yir-Eru Engmen, former Deputy CEO in charge of Operations, and Patrick Seidu, former Deputy CEO in charge of Finance and Administration — and Andrew Kuundaari, Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited, a private firm. bbc6

They were found guilty on 7 out of 11 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences including conspiracy to directly or indirectly influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage, corruption by a public officer and corruption of a public officer in respect of procurement contracts under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP).

The case was initiated and prosecuted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor after investigations into a complaint filed by private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu.

The court however declined to impose custodial sentences, citing their advanced age and the fact that the OSP acted swiftly to prevent unlawful payments under the contract, so no loss was caused to the Republic. Instead it imposed a fine of 1,000 penalty units for each count.

Defence lawyers had pleaded for leniency describing them as first-time offenders.

The IPEP contract in question was valued at GH¢10.4 million.

The OSP says the conviction reaffirms its commitment to protecting public funds and holding public officials accountable.