By Prince Ahenkorah
Accra’s High Court has thrown out a last-ditch attempt by Gifty Oware-Mensah, former deputy executive director of the National Service Authority, to suspend her criminal trial. The ruling forces the state’s case involving alleged losses of more than GH¢38 million to proceed without further delay.
Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay refused the application for a stay, ordering the prosecution to move ahead. The next hearing is set for 11 May.
Oware-Mensah’s lawyers had sought to halt proceedings while they challenge a disclosure order at the Court of Appeal. The order requires them to name and address their intended witnesses a standard provision under the Supreme Court’s criminal case management rules.
Lead counsel Nanabanyin Ackon argued that the appeal raises fundamental questions about the presumption of innocence (Article 19(2)(c) of the 1992 Constitution). A previous attempt by another defence lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, made similar claims of potential miscarriage of justice.
The prosecution, led by Dufie Prempeh, dismissed the manoeuvre as a calculated delay tactic. Stays of proceedings, she reminded the court, are exceptional not a routine response to displeasure with a procedural ruling.
Oware-Mensah has pleaded not guilty to charges including causing financial loss, money laundering, stealing and abuse of office. Her co-accused, Osei Assibey Antwi, faces related counts.
With the escape route closed, attention now turns to the full evidentiary hearing in a case that has become a bellwether for official accountability and public funds management in Ghana’s state institutions.