Ex-NAFCO CEO's Airport Arrest Rocks Ghana: Battle Over Frozen Funds Intensifies

Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), has been arrested at the Accra International Airport. The arrest, which occurred on a Saturday night, was announced by the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Justice Srem Sai, via a Facebook post. Dr. Srem Sai disclosed that Mr. Aludiba, who faces charges of stealing and causing financial loss to the Republic, was apprehended while traveling to the United Kingdom, despite having been granted leave by the High Court to travel briefly.

According to Dr. Srem Sai, the intervention of investigators was prompted by Mr. Aludiba's alleged attempt to use "false means to empty his frozen bank account with Republic Bank" on the preceding Thursday. He explained that while the trial High Court had indeed granted Mr. Aludiba permission to travel to the UK for a few days, this alleged action before his trip occasioned the arrest. The Deputy Attorney-General further announced that the Attorney-General intends to return to court on Monday to challenge the order that permitted the accused person to leave the country, signaling a potential tightening of bail and travel conditions.

In response, Godfred Yeboah Dame, counsel for Hanan Abdul-Wahab, has strongly accused the Attorney-General and his deputy of deliberately violating a High Court order. In a statement issued on Sunday, July 5, Mr. Dame rejected Dr. Srem Sai's claims as false and intended to justify what he described as an unlawful arrest. He asserted that the High Court, presided over by Justice Achibonga, a Court of Appeal judge sitting as an additional High Court judge, had granted Abdul-Wahab explicit permission on June 29 to travel to the United Kingdom from July 4 to July 12 for an appointment with his optician. This decision, Mr. Dame emphasized, followed arguments from both the defence and prosecution, including Dr. Srem Sai himself, and was consistent with numerous precedents allowing accused persons on trial to travel abroad in exercise of their fundamental human rights to freedom of movement and medical care. He cited cases such as Dr. Stephen Opuni, Seidu Agongo, Collins Dauda, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and Dr. Kwabena Duffuor as examples of individuals regularly permitted to travel while facing trial for similar offenses.

Mr. Dame vehemently dismissed the Deputy Attorney-General's allegation that his client attempted to withdraw money from a frozen bank account. "The allegation by the Deputy Attorney-General that our client attempted ‘to use false means to empty his frozen bank account with Republic Bank …’ is simply untrue," Mr. Dame stated, challenging Dr. Srem Sai to produce evidence of any withdrawal since the date of the court order. Furthermore, Mr. Dame argued that there is currently no valid court order freezing Abdul-Wahab’s accounts. He explained that earlier freezing orders had lapsed after the withdrawal of charges against his client on May 5. When fresh charges were filed on May 15, the High Court at Adentan had subsequently ruled that "the re-arrest began a fresh process," which implied that "there is no valid freezing order" in force. This position, he noted, had already been communicated to the Economic and Organised Crime Office by his legal team.

Describing the justification for the arrest as "grossly deceptive and misleading," Mr. Dame alleged that the Attorney-General and his Deputy deployed the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) based on a false allegation. He stated that the incident reinforced concerns about repeated disregard for court orders, suggesting that the Attorney-General and his Deputy are the "masterminds of the frequent violations of court orders by law enforcement agencies and the persistent harassment of our client and other citizens of Ghana under the current administration."

Concluding his statement, Mr. Dame announced that his legal team would initiate contempt proceedings against the Attorney-General, the Deputy Attorney-General, and the Director of the BNI for what he termed a "blatant and wilful violation of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction." He ended with a sharp criticism of the prevailing situation, declaring: "Freedom, in fact, has become a rare and expensive commodity!"