The Supreme Court of Ghana has dismissed an application seeking to temporarily suspend the ongoing High Court trial of former National Service Authority Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah, who is standing trial over allegations involving financial loss exceeding GH¢38 million to the state.
The application, filed by her lawyer Gary Nimako Marfo, sought to place a hold on the proceedings at the High Court while the apex court considered a constitutional challenge to a practice direction used to compel the accused to submit the names, addresses, and statements of intended defence witnesses during case management.
Delivering its ruling on May 19, 2026, a five member panel presided over by Chief Justice Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie held that the request for a stay of proceedings did not meet the legal threshold required to halt a criminal trial already underway.
According to the court, even though the accused is entitled to pursue constitutional interpretation regarding the contested practice direction, such a challenge does not constitute sufficient grounds to suspend the substantive criminal trial at the High Court.
The Chief Justice stated that the application for stay of proceedings failed to satisfy the required legal threshold and affirmed that the trial could continue independently of the constitutional question raised by the defence.
The underlying criminal case, initiated in October 2025 by the Dr. Dominic Ayine, accuses the former NSA Deputy Executive Director of orchestrating an alleged scheme that resulted in the loss of more than GH¢38 million to the state.
Prosecutors allege that Gifty Oware-Mensah created 9,934 fictitious names within the National Service Authority Central Management System and subsequently gained control of a company identified as Blocks of Life Consult Limited. The prosecution further claims she installed her mother’s driver as a director of the company and presented it to the Agricultural Development Bank Ghana as part of a financing arrangement.
It is further alleged that she represented to the bank that goods had been supplied on hire purchase to the fictitious service personnel and that the allowances associated with those names would serve as repayment security for a loan facility.
According to the prosecution, this arrangement enabled the accused to obtain approximately GH¢38,458,248.87 from the bank through structured deductions from allowances linked to non existent service personnel over an 11 month period.
She is facing five counts including wilfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit, and money laundering. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains on bail, with the trial being conducted at the High Court presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie Tay.
The constitutional dispute at the centre of the Supreme Court application concerns a directive issued under the Practice Direction on Disclosure and Case Management in Criminal Proceedings, 2018, signed by former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo.
At a case management conference, the High Court ordered the accused to file a list of defence witnesses together with their addresses. Her legal team challenged the directive, arguing that it violates Article 19(2)(c) of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees the presumption of innocence.
The contested provision, Section 2(3)(a) of the practice direction, requires an accused person to disclose the names and addresses of witnesses they intend to call at the case management stage, while also stating that this requirement is without prejudice to the constitutional presumption of innocence.
Counsel for the accused, Gary Nimako Marfo, is therefore seeking constitutional interpretation of whether the directive is consistent with fundamental fair trial guarantees, even as the substantive criminal proceedings continue at the High Court.
