The High Court has ordered the Attorney-General to amend two counts of defrauding by false pretences in the criminal case against former National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer, Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, and his co-accused, Faiza Seidu Wuni, after finding that the charges lacked sufficient particulars of the alleged false representations.
The court, however, dismissed the defence’s broader application challenging the validity of the charge sheet, holding that all the remaining charges sufficiently informed the accused persons of the allegations they are required to defend.
Delivering its ruling on Thursday July 23, the court held that the prosecution is required to provide particulars that give an accused person reasonable information about the charge and that such particulars should enable even a third party reading the charge sheet to understand the nature of the offence and the case the accused must answer.
The application, argued by former Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame for the first accused, had sought to strike out the charges because they violated Article 19(2)(d) of the 1992 Constitution and Sections 109 and 112 of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30).
The defence contended that the charge sheet failed to provide adequate particulars, improperly combined several transactions into single counts, and unlawfully charged the same transactions as both stealing and defrauding by false pretences.
The court rejected those arguments.
It held that, save for Count 14, the applicant had been provided with sufficient particulars to know the nature of the allegations against him and dismissed that ground of the application.
The court also found no merit in the argument that the prosecution had improperly combined multiple offences in a single count.
“I have not seen a single count that combines a series of charges. There is nothing wrong with the accused being charged in separate counts in respect of a series of acts,” the judge held.
On the defence’s contention that the prosecution could not charge both stealing and defrauding by false pretences in relation to the same transactions, the court ruled that there was nothing legally wrong with preferring both offences in separate and distinct counts.
The judge explained that while the prosecution may charge both offences, an accused person cannot ultimately be convicted of both in respect of the same facts.
The court, however, agreed with the defence that the particulars of Counts 9 and 14, both alleging defrauding by false pretences, were deficient.
Count 9 alleges that between September 2018 and August 2019, Faiza Seidu Wuni, as proprietor of ALQARNI ENTERPRISE, represented that she had supplied foodstuff to the National Food & Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), thereby causing the company to part with about GH¢3.34 million. Count 14 similarly alleges that between February 2017 and February 2019, Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, as proprietor of ALUDIBA ENTERPRISE, represented that the enterprise had sold foodstuff to NAFCO, causing the company to pay about GH¢5.5 million.
The court held that while both counts referred to representations made by the accused persons, neither expressly alleged that the representations were false or constituted false pretences. It ruled that the prosecution must amend Counts 9 and 14 to state that the representations relied upon were false representations or false pretences, so as to sufficiently inform the accused persons of the nature of the offence of defrauding by false pretences.
“I do not consider Count 14 to contain enough particulars to inform the accused about the charge of defrauding by false pretence. Although the prosecution mentioned a representation, the prosecution did not indicate that it was made by false pretence. The same defect appears in Count 9 against the second accused,” the judge ruled.
The court consequently ordered the prosecution to amend Counts 9 and 14 to cure the defect, while allowing the remainder of the case to proceed.
The case has been adjourned to July 29, 2026.
Meanwhile, lead counsel for Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has served notice of appealing the ruling.
