Former National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer, Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, has filed an application at the High Court seeking to strike out 16 charges brought against him, arguing that the charge sheet is fatally defective and violates his constitutional right to a fair trial.
The application, filed in Case No. CR/0530/2026, seeks the dismissal of Counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.
Mr Aludiba is facing charges including defrauding by false pretences, wilfully causing financial loss to the Republic, stealing, using public office for profit, intentional dissipation of public funds and money laundering.
In his affidavit in support of the application, he argues that the charges are vague, ambiguous, duplicitous and insufficiently detailed to enable him to properly understand and prepare his defence.
He relies on Article 19(2)(d) of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees an accused person the right to be informed immediately and in detail of the nature of the offence charged.
Mr Aludiba specifically challenges charges relating to alleged payments to Sawtina Enterprise between February 2017 and February 2025.
He argues that the charge alleging the stealing of approximately GH¢50.879 million fails to identify the specific transactions or acts that allegedly constituted the offence.
According to him, the eight-year period cited in the charge covers multiple payments, but the prosecution has not clarified whether the alleged loss resulted from one transaction, several transactions or a continuing offence.
He further contends that the charge does not explain whether the money was transferred, withdrawn or retained by him, or how the alleged stealing was carried out.
The former NAFCO CEO also challenges the charges of wilfully causing financial loss to the Republic, arguing that the prosecution merely repeats the word “wilfully” without providing particulars of the conduct that allegedly caused the loss.
He says the charge does not explain how the payments were unlawfully made or whether the alleged loss was direct or indirect.
Mr Aludiba also argues that some of the charges are mutually contradictory.
He points to Counts 13 and 14, which allegedly charge him with stealing and defrauding by false pretences over the same GH¢5.495 million arising from payments allegedly made by NAFCO to Aludiba Enterprise between February 2017 and February 2019.
According to the application, stealing and defrauding by false pretences are based on different factual circumstances and cannot properly be charged in respect of the same act and amount without creating ambiguity.
He further challenges the money laundering charge, arguing that it is based on an alleged stealing offence which he says is itself defective.
The application also attacks charges of using public office for profit, claiming that the particulars merely repeat the language of the law without identifying the specific acts, transactions, documents or decisions that allegedly constituted the offence.
Mr Aludiba maintains that the cumulative effect of the alleged defects—including broad timeframes, vague particulars, duplicity and the charging of mutually exclusive offences—makes a fair trial impossible.
He is therefore asking the High Court to strike out the affected counts, and ultimately the charge sheet, as incurably defective and in violation of his constitutional rights.
Mr Aludiba was arraigned alongside Faiza Seidu Wuni and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
