Ghana’s Supreme Court docket has rejected an utility to remain the felony trial of a former Nationwide Civil Service official accused of orchestrating a ghost wage fraud price greater than GH¢38 million, paving the best way for proceedings within the Excessive Court docket to proceed whereas one other constitutional problem proceeds.
A five-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonny dominated on Might 19, 2026, that an utility to remain the proceedings filed on behalf of Gifty Owale-Mensah didn’t meet the authorized standards essential to cease an ongoing trial.
“The movement for a keep doesn’t meet the factors for a keep of trial,” the chief justice stated, including that defendants retain the best to independently increase constitutional challenges whereas the trial continues.
Owole-Mensah, a former deputy director-general of the Nationwide Companies Authority (NSA), was charged within the Excessive Court docket with 5 fees together with deliberately inflicting monetary loss to the state, utilizing public workplace for revenue and cash laundering. She has pleaded not responsible and stays on bail granted by Excessive Court docket Choose Audrey Kokyuvi-Tay.
Her lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, had sought to droop the proceedings pending a constitutional judgment on the Follow Instructions on Disclosure and Case Administration in Legal Procedures (2018) issued below former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo. The problem targets Article 2(3)(a) of the Directive, which requires defendants to supply the names, addresses and statements of focused protection witnesses throughout case administration. The protection argues that this requirement is inconsistent with Article 19(2)(c) of the 1992 Ghanaian Structure, which ensures the presumption of innocence.
The Supreme Court docket held that disputed constitutional points don’t robotically justify a keep of a felony trial, establishing a transparent distinction between the 2 authorized processes.
The costs stem from a lawsuit filed in October 2025 by Legal professional Basic Dominic Aine. In response to prosecutors, Owale Mensah used round 10,000 ghost names on NSA payslips to acquire loans from the Agricultural Improvement Financial institution (ADB) by his personal firm Block of Life Seek the advice of Restricted, and supplied the allowances related to the fictional names as safety. The plan is alleged to have generated GH cents 38,458,248.87 by deductions at supply over a interval of 11 months.
