The trial of Mr Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company, has been put on hold for the Court of Appeal to rule on an application challenging a ruling on the charge sheet.
Mr Abdul-Wahab, the appellant, wants the Court of Appeal to overturn the trial High Court’s decision of July 18 that rejected his claim that the charge sheet was defective and unfit for the trial. In the ruling, the trial High Court judge, Justice Francis Achibonga, said there was sufficient information to enable the defence to conduct proceedings against the accused, who is standing trial together with his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, for allegedly causing financial loss of GH¢78 million to the state.
His lawyers, led by Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, urged the Court of Appeal to quash the entire charges.
Moving the application, Mr Dame told the three-member panel of judges, presided over by Justice Noble Nkrumah, that his client’s right to a fair trial would be affected if the defective charges were not quashed.
He said a miscarriage of justice would be occasioned if the trial proceeded without the appellate court’s intervention on the matters appealed.
Mr Dame contended that a properly crafted charge sheet must provide relevant information to enable him to adequately defend his client.
On the count of stealing, which forms the nucleus of the prosecution’s case, the former Attorney-General said the prosecution grouped several transactions into a single count without providing sufficient particulars of the alleged acts.
In opposing the application, the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, argued that the applicant failed to establish exceptional circumstances to stop the trial.
He said disagreement with a trial court’s ruling was not, in itself, sufficient grounds for a stay of proceedings.
Dr Srem-Sai argued that the charge sheet provided adequate information about the alleged offences and questioned whether the use of the word “stealing” would prevent the accused persons from understanding the allegations against them.
Having listened to arguments for and against the application, the court ruled that the charge sheet formed the foundation of the trial and that a challenge to it had to be addressed.
“Having listened, we take the position that the charge sheet carries the superstructure of the trial,” the court said.
It added that the issues raised by the applicant were exceptional and warranted a stay of proceedings.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
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