The prosecution of the former Chief Executive Officer of National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited hit another snag in court on Thursday, 28 May 2026, when an attempt by the Prosecution to proceed with Case Management Conference was halted due to the failure of the prosecution to file signed witness statements in the matter, contrary to the rules of court.
At the hearing, Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, told the court, presided over by Justice Francis Achibonga, that all documents had been filed and the Republic was ready to begin the case management conference.
However, counsel for the first accused, Godfred Yeboah Dame, raised an objection to the commencement. Mr Dame indicated that the accused persons had been served with only one witness statement and that, in his view, the other documents filed could not be considered as witness statements under the criminal laws of Ghana since they had neither been signed nor verified as required by the Practice Directions, Disclosures and Case Management Rules.
Mr. Dame further submitted that the Practice Directions, Disclosures, and Case Management Rules stipulate that the prosecution must file and serve on the accused persons all witness statements and documents to be relied upon before a case management conference can be conducted.
Dr Srem-Sai, responding to the objection, stated that the case management conference is a process, and therefore, the prosecution can file witness statements later.
He added that there is no rule that witness statements should be filed before the case management conference can begin.
Justice Achibonga upheld the objection by counsel for the accused and stated that whilst it is true that a case management conference is a process, it is not possible to hold it without the Prosecution’s witness statements having been signed.
According to the judge, an unsigned witness statement has no value and is only as good as an unsigned one.
He further indicated that it is important that the witness statements filed by the prosecution be signed, because even if the prosecution failed to use them, under the rules, they could be tendered by the other side. It is not possible for an unsigned witness statement to achieve that.
The judge noted that he had earlier ordered the prosecution to file all documents it intended to rely on.
The prosecution’s failure to file signed witness statements indicated that the court’s order had not been complied with. The judge ruled that, in the circumstances, he was unable to proceed with the case management conference.
The judge adjourned proceedings to 9th June and 11th June 2027 in the hope that the prosecution would be able to file signed witness statements.
Background
The former head of its National Food and Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) and his wife have been charged with multiple counts, including fraud, money laundering, and causing financial loss to the state, over the alleged misappropriation of millions of cedis, court documents showed.
Prosecutors filed 20 charges against former NAFCO chief executive Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, in documents submitted to the High Court in Accra on 15 May.
The charges include theft, fraud by false pretences, abuse of public office for profit, and money laundering, according to filings by the Office of the Attorney General.
The case follows the re-arrest of the couple by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) shortly after they had been discharged by the court in an earlier case.
Prosecutors allege that Aludiba fraudulently obtained 734,400 cedis (around $127,500) from NAFCO in 2017 under the pretext of rent payments for a period between May 2017 and May 2019.
He is also accused of causing financial loss to the state through the same transaction.
Court documents further allege that between 2017 and 2025, the former CEO diverted about 50.8 million cedis from the state agency through payments made to a private entity, Sawtina Enterprise, purportedly for food supply contracts.
The prosecution claims the transactions amounted to stealing and abuse of office.
In a separate set of allegations, prosecutors say payments exceeding 3.34 million cedis were made to another company, Alqarni Enterprise, allegedly owned by his wife, for purported food supplies between 2018 and 2019.
Wuni faces charges including fraud by false pretence, dishonestly receiving and money laundering, with prosecutors alleging she knowingly received funds believed to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
