The High Court in Tamale has reportedly convicted Sumaila Abdul Rahman, former Northern Development Authority (NDA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and his two deputies, who were being prosecuted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The Office of the Special Prosecutor charged the three former officials of the Northern Development Authority and a private contractor after they were accused of procurement breaches.

The OSP charged Sumaila Abdul-Rahman and his two deputies, Stephen Yir-eru Engmen, the Deputy CEO in charge of operations, and Patrick Seidu, the Deputy CEO in charge of finance and administration, with alleged corrupt practices.

Also charged alongside the three is Andrew Kuundaari, the Chief Executive of A&QS Consortium Limited, a private consultancy firm.

The four were charged with conspiracy to directly or indirectly influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract.

Background

A contract alteration scandal has hit the Northern Development Authority (NDA), where a GH¢5.7 million contract signed by Dr Alhassan Anamzoya, the predecessor of Abdul Rahman, was inflated long after the work was completed and payment was due.

In a series of exposés, Dr Alhassan Anamzoya said he awarded a contract to a firm called A&QS Consortium while in office for GH¢5.7 million, an amount approved by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) under the then government's Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP).

On January 16, 2020, the PPA gave the NDA, under Dr Anamzoya, approval to use single-source procurement to recruit various consultancy services to implement the IPEP programme for GH¢5.7 million.

However, upon Dr Anamzoya's departure from the NDA, the contract was allegedly 'falsified', along with the forged signature of Dr Anamzoya, to inflate the total contract sum to GH¢10,400,000 instead of GH¢5.7 million.

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Despite the clear fraud and possible criminal repercussions, payment was made, with only a fraction of the amount left to be cleared.

The NDA under Dr Anamzoya engaged the services of A&QS Consortium to provide consultancy supervision for 11 constituencies in the Upper West Region for GH¢5.7 million, with PPA approval.

Even though the award letter signed by Anamzoya and the corresponding PPA approval showed an amount of GH¢5.7 million, the contract was allegedly doctored to show GH¢10,400,000 and submitted for payment, of which 30% was made.

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