A High Court in Tamale has convicted three former executives of the Northern Development Authority (NDA) and the chief executive of a private company of seven counts of corruption and corruption-related offences involving procurement contracts under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP).
The convictions were handed down on October 23, 2026, following a prosecution initiated and conducted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The convicts are Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, former Chief Executive of the NDA; Stephen Yir-Eru Engmen, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations; Patrick Seidu, former Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration; and Andrew Kuundaari, Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited, a private entity.
According to the OSP, the four were convicted on seven out of 11 counts, including conspiracy to influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of contracts, directly or indirectly influencing procurement decisions for an unfair advantage, corruption by a public officer and corruption of a public officer.
The offences related to procurement contracts awarded by the NDA under the government’s Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme.
The court declined to impose custodial sentences on the convicts, citing their advanced age and the OSP’s swift intervention to prevent unlawful payments under the contracts.
According to the OSP’s statement, the court considered that no financial loss had been caused to the Republic as a result of the intervention.
Instead, the court imposed a penalty of 1,000 penalty units for each count.
The prosecution followed investigations by the OSP into a complaint filed by legal practitioner Martin Kpebu.
In a statement issued on October 23, 2026, the Office reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the public purse and holding public officials and their collaborators in the private sector accountable for corruption and related offences.
The case centres on procurement activities under IPEP, a government programme aimed at supporting infrastructure development and poverty eradication.
