Court orders A-G to amend two charges in Hanan Abdul-Wahab trial

The High Court has directed the Attorney-General to amend two counts in the criminal case involving former National Food Buffer Stock Company Chief Executive Officer, Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, and his co-accused, Faiza Seidu Wuni.

The court held that the two counts, both relating to defrauding by false pretences, did not contain enough particulars on the alleged false representations said to have been made by the accused persons.

The ruling was delivered on Thursday, July 23.

The court, however, rejected the wider attempt by the defence to have the charge sheet struck out.

It held that, apart from the two defective counts, the remaining charges gave the accused persons sufficient notice of the allegations they are expected to answer.

Mr Abdul-Wahab and Faiza Seidu Wuni are standing trial over alleged financial offences linked to the National Food Buffer Stock Company.

The defence, led by former Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame, had argued that the charge sheet violated Article 19(2)(d) of the 1992 Constitution and provisions of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960, Act 30.

Counsel submitted that the charges lacked proper particulars, combined several transactions in single counts and wrongly framed the same transactions as both stealing and defrauding by false pretences.

The court disagreed with most of those arguments.

It held that the law requires a charge sheet to provide reasonable information that enables an accused person to understand the case to be answered.

The judge said the particulars should be clear enough for even a third party reading the charge sheet to appreciate the nature of the offence alleged.

On the claim that several offences had been combined in single counts, the court found no basis for the objection.

“I have not seen a single count that combines a series of charges. There is nothing wrong with the accused being charged in separate counts in respect of a series of acts,” the judge held.

The court also rejected the argument that the prosecution could not charge stealing and defrauding by false pretences in relation to the same transactions.

According to the judge, the prosecution may frame both offences in separate counts.

The court, however, noted that an accused person cannot ultimately be convicted of both offences on the same facts.

The court agreed with the defence only in respect of Counts 9 and 14.

Count 9 concerns Faiza Seidu Wuni, who is alleged to have represented, as proprietor of ALQARNI Enterprise, that she had supplied foodstuff to NAFCO between September 2018 and August 2019, leading to the payment of about GH¢3.34 million.

Count 14 concerns Mr Abdul-Wahab, who is alleged to have represented, as proprietor of ALUDIBA Enterprise, that the business had sold foodstuff to NAFCO between February 2017 and February 2019, leading to the payment of about GH¢5.5 million.

The court held that although the two counts referred to representations allegedly made by the accused persons, they did not clearly state that those representations were false or amounted to false pretences.

“I do not consider Count 14 to contain enough particulars to inform the accused about the charge of defrauding by false pretence. Although the prosecution mentioned a representation, the prosecution did not indicate that it was made by false pretence. The same defect appears in Count 9 against the second accused,” the judge ruled.

The prosecution was therefore ordered to amend Counts 9 and 14 to cure the defect.

The rest of the charges remain intact.

The case has been adjourned to July 29, 2026.

Mr Dame has served notice that the defence will appeal the ruling.