OSP charges CEO of Northern Development Authority, deputies, another over GH¢10.4m procurement scandal

The four are said to have circumvented the procurement process in the award to A&QS Consortium Limited under the implementation of the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP).

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The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has charged the Chief Executive of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), Mr. Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, his two deputies, and the Chief Executive of A&Qs Consortium, Andrew Kuundaari over a conspiracy to influence the procurement process in the award of a contract. 

According to the charge sheet, the four individuals agreed to act together to circumvent the procurement process in the award to A&QS Consortium Limited of a procurement contract by the Northern Development Authority under the implementation of the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP). 

The particulars of the case also indicate that the four individuals increased, without lawful authority, the total contract sum of Five Million Seven Hundred and Twenty Thousand cedis (GHC5,720,000.00) approved by Public Procurement Authority to an amount of Ten Million Four Hundred Thousand cedis (GHC10,400,000.00).

In a statement, the OSP said the actions of the four individuals are contrary to section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and section 92(2)(b) of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).

The CEO of NDA, Mr. Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, his Deputy in charge of Finance and Administration, Patrick Seidu, and Mr. Andrew Kuundaari of A&Qs Consortium 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, while Mr. Stephen Yir-eru Engmen (Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations) has been charged with a further two (2) counts of the same offence.

“The four persons will be arraigned before the High Court (Criminal Division), Tamale on Tuesday 31 January 2023,” the OSP said in its statement.

The filing of the court process comes after the OSP released its report in relation to a six-month investigation it conducted following a June 2022 written complaint from private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, who requested a probe into the operations of NDA and the actions of its Chief Executive and Board Chairman.

Prior to Mr. Kpebu's petition, a former Acting Chief Executive of NDA, Dr. Alhassan Sulemana Anamzoya on January 11, 2022, petitioned the Chief of Staff at the Presidency on the same matter, alleging the falsification of his signature in the award of the A&QS Contract at the sum of Ten Million Four Hundred Thousand cedis (GHC10,400,000.00). 

In its findings released today, January 24, 2023, the OSP highlighted that Mr. Abdul-Rahman, Mr. Engmen and Mr. Seidu, in their various capacities, pushed through and approved a 26 June 2020 and the 27 May 2021 invoices for payment, without lawful authority. 

The report also indicated that Mr. Abdul-Rahman and his two deputies ignored the caution from a budget officer, who advised that payments to A&QS be suspended since the invoices submitted by Mr. Kuundaari on behalf of A&QS were incompatible with the PPA-approved contractual relationship between NDA and A&QS.  

"Indeed, Mr. Abdul-Rahman, Mr. Engmen and Mr. Seidu knew fully well that the document attached to the invoices was not the contract signed by Dr. Anamzoya on behalf of NDA and that Mr. Kuundaari’s presentation of the document attached to the 26 June 2020 and the 27 May 2021 invoices as their main supporting document was merely the last chip to complete their common design of passing off what was clearly a fictitious document as the original contract. 

Yet, once again, Mr. Abdul-Rahman, Mr. Seidu, and now joined by Mr. Engmen and Mr. Kuundaari, acquired incurable willful blindness by intentionally keeping themselves unaware of the ultra-glaring fact that the contract price stated on page 25 of the document is Ten Million Four Hundred Thousand cedis (GHC10,400,000.00), contrary to the PPA approval of 16 January 2020 which stated the prescribed full contract price for the procurement of A&QS at Five Million Seven Hundred and Twenty Thousand cedis (GHC5,720,000.00)," the OSP report said among others. 

On January 13 and 14, 2023, President Akufo-Addo terminated the contracts of the two deputy CEOs of NDA, Patrick Seidu and Mr. Stephen Yir-eru Engmen, which takes effect from March 21, 2023.