Court orders prosecution to amend charges in Hanan Abdul-Wahab Buffer Stock case

An Accra High Court has ordered the prosecution to amend some of the charges against the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab, in the ongoing buffer stock case.

The presiding judge on Thursday, July 23, 2026, directed the prosecution to amend counts 9 and 14, which accuse Abdul-Wahab of defrauding by false pretences.

Former NAFCO CEO Hanan moves to strike out charges

In his ruling, the judge said the two charges were defective because they did not provide sufficient particulars of the alleged offences against the accused.

The court, however, held that the other charges contained sufficient details.

The judge also noted that a person cannot be convicted of both stealing and defrauding by false pretences where the two offences arise from the same set of facts.

The court, however, declined to strike out the charges, explaining that the prosecution could proceed with both charges until the evidence is heard.

The ruling follows an earlier application by former Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, counsel for Abdul-Wahab, seeking to have the charge sheet against his client dismissed.

Dame argued that the charge sheet was legally defective and did not comply with the requirements of Ghana's criminal procedure laws.

He contended that the charges lacked sufficient particulars to enable his client to understand the allegations and adequately prepare his defence.

He further argued that the prosecution had improperly combined multiple transactions from different years into single charges, contrary to established legal procedure.

According to the defence, the attorney-general's own affidavit indicated that several payments and transactions occurred during the period under investigation.

The defence argued that this supported its position that the prosecution had failed to clearly identify the specific acts constituting the alleged offences.

Hanan Abdul-Wahab's Buffer Stock case faces dismissal motion led by Godfred Dame

Dame also maintained that the prosecution could not rely on the same facts to pursue charges of both stealing and defrauding by false pretences without clearly distinguishing the elements of each offence.

The defence therefore asked the court to dismiss the entire charge sheet, arguing that Abdul-Wahab should not be made to stand trial on charges that failed to meet the required legal standard.

MAG/MA

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