Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, have been granted bail totaling GHS150 million by the High Court in Accra. Hanan has a share of GHS100 million in the bail and is to provide six sureties, four of whom must prove ownership of landed property.

His wife, on the other hand, has been granted bail in the sum of GHS50 million with four sureties, three of whom must own property within the jurisdiction of the court.

The duo have pleaded not guilty in the National Food and Buffer Stock Company case. They stand accused of 24 counts, including stealing, defrauding by false pretences, willful misuse of public funds, money laundering, and exploiting public office for personal benefit. The court has directed that the sureties submit copies of their Ghana Cards.

The court has also ordered that the names of the accused persons be added to a stop-list at all entry and exit points in the country, including airports, seaports, and border crossings. Until the final determination of the case, Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba and Faiza Seidu Wuni are required to report to the investigator every Wednesday.

Abdul-Wahab is standing trial over allegations of large-scale financial misconduct during his time in office. He was arrested on June 25, along with his wife. EOCO granted a GHS30 million bail to his wife, while her husband remained in custody pending the fulfillment of his GHS60 million bail condition.

The arrest, which took place simultaneously in Accra and Tamale, also led to the detention of a third, unnamed individual believed to be linked to the investigation.

On Tuesday, July 8, the former NAFCO boss was released from the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) after being detained for 14 days. Abdul-Wahab was released after meeting a GHS60 million bail condition backed by two guarantors.

On June 25, Hanan and his spouse were taken into custody over suspected mismanagement of funds while he led the government agency. His wife was granted bail earlier, set at GHS30 million.

Earlier reports indicated that Mr. Hanan had met the bail terms; however, he remained in the custody of EOCO, a situation that drew backlash from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), which described the terms as harsh and unfair.A third suspect, an unnamed individual believed to be linked to the investigation, has also been detained.

Meanwhile, a list of luxury assets belonging to Hanan Abdul-Wahab has been made public by the Attorney General (A-G) and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine.His assets include a five-bedroom house at Chain Homes valued at $1.625 million, a three-bedroom house at Cantonments purchased for $600,000, and multiple plots of land at the Airport Development Area worth $750,000.Other properties include a 17-bedroom boutique hotel in Gumani, Tamale, acquired for $250,000; a four-bedroom bungalow at Dzorwulu, Accra, valued at over GHS4.14 million; and a 0.32-acre parcel of government land purchased for GHS307,200.

The Attorney General made the disclosure while addressing journalists at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, October 22, as part of the Government Accountability Series. He added that the recent development was made possible through collaboration with the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), after several properties and bank transactions were traced to Abdul-Wahab.

But Abdul-Wahab has denied all allegations leveled against him by the Attorney General. In a statement issued on Wednesday, October 22, Mr. Aludiba noted that he has instructed his lawyers to follow up on the allegations.“I wish to state, respectfully, that these claims are untrue and do not reflect the facts of the matter. I have no involvement in the issues being referred to, and I find the comments deeply unfortunate.“I look forward to the opportunity to present my side and to have my day in court, where I am confident that the truth will be made clear,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has released a fifty-page report covering investigations and prosecutions carried out between January 1 and July 31 this year.The OSP’s Seventh Half-Yearly Report is pursuant to Section 3(3) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959). The document also outlines key developments in the Office’s operations.

According to the OSP, despite resistance from powerful interests, it stayed focused on executing its mandate during this period. As such, the Office successfully progressed significant corruption-related investigations to the stage of court proceedings while also initiating new inquiries into suspected acts of corruption."Then again, the Office, as one of three implementing partners of the new National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Strategy and Implementing Plan, is fashioning and moulding anti-corruption structures that would stand the test of time. The task ahead remains formidable. Much more so is our resolve to perform.

"This reporting period was characterised by intensification of the Office's prosecutorial mandate. We advanced high-profile investigations to court and initiated bold inquiries into suspected corruption, often in the face of deep-seated resistance from entrenched interests."Notwithstanding these expected challenges, the Office remains resolute and guided by the rule of law, fairness, firmness, evidence-based action, and the interest of the public. We recognise that the fight against corruption cannot be waged and won only through punitive action and incarceration," parts of the report read.

The legislative framework of the Office of the Special Prosecutor mandates the Authority to crack down on corruption, recover assets, and confiscate illicit property."Indeed, the legislative set-up of the Office leans heavily on corruption prevention and asset recovery and disgorgement of tainted property. Consequently, we proceed on sustainable anti-corruption outcomes by pairing enforcement with robust prevention and asset recovery, especially founded on our unique plea bargaining regime.

"In this spirit, the Office scaled up its preventive mandate through active engagement with public institutions, private sector actors, and civil society, and secured convictions and asset recovery through impactful plea bargaining. We also reckon that the nation’s anti-corruption legal framework requires re-imagination, modernisation, and retooling to address the immense scale and complexity of modern corruption in the context of our social, economic, and political constructs.

"On this score, the Office has proposed the inclusion of a new chapter in the Constitution dedicated to the fight against corruption through definitive constitutional expression by the institution of proposed concrete measures to effectively and comprehensively suppress and repress corruption in public life as well as in the private sector, chief among which include lifestyle audits, non-conviction-based asset recovery, enhanced asset declaration and verification regime, and reverse onus presumption of corruption as the foundation of both anti-corruption criminal proceedings and civil asset recovery proceedings," parts of the report added.

The Office is also leading the charge in respect of the passage of a comprehensive Corrupt Practices Act and Conduct of Public Officers Act. Currently, sixty-seven (67) cases are being handled by the Office, all of which are undergoing comprehensive review.The corruption cases being investigated by the OSP include: the Minerals Income Investment Fund, Ghana Airports Company Limited, Ghana Education Service, National Commission on Culture, Ghana Revenue Authority/Tata Consulting Services, National Service Authority, Ministry of Health/Service Ghana Auto Group Limited, and the National Cathedral.

The others are: Tema Oil Refinery and Tema Energy and Processing Limited, the Electricity Company of Ghana Limited, State lands, Stool lands, and other vested lands, Illegal Mining, the National Sports Authority, Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority, Bank of Ghana, and the Estate of Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, alias Sir John.