The resignation was announced in a letter dated March 3 and addressed to the Chief of Staff.

This comes in the wake of a criminal prosecution before the Tamale High Court in breaches of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).

The Special Prosecutor (OSP), Kissi Agyebeng, recently charged Mr Sumaila and three others with conspiracy to directly or indirectly influence the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract.

The three others include two of Mr Sumaila’s deputies; Stephen Yir-eru Engmen, Deputy Chief Executive (Operations), Patrick Seidu Deputy Chief Executive (Finance & Administration) and Andrew Kuundaari, Chief Executive A&QS Consortium Limited.

The embattled CEO has, therefore, explained the resignation is to allow the ongoing judicial process to take place without any interference.

“I write to resign from my position as Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Northern Development Authority (NDA).

“This decision has become necessary to enable me step aside and allow the ongoing judicial process to take place without any interference,” portions of the letter read.

Mr Rahman further expressed appreciation to the President for the opportunity to serve.

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“Let me take this opportunity to thank His Excellency the President for giving me the mandate to serve our country as the Acting CEO of the NDA,” he acknowledged.

Meanwhile, the Tamale High Court will continue hearing the case on April 5th and 6th.

Below is the full resignation letter:

The three officers are Mr Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, the Chief Executive, NDA, Mr Stephen Yir-eru Engmen, Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) and Mr Patrick Seidu, Deputy Chief Executive (Finance and Administration).  

The four persons have been charged with conspiring to commit the crime of directly or indirectly influencing the procurement process to “obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract.”   

They have since been arraigned before the Criminal Division of the Tamale High Court on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.  

According to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the act of the four persons was contrary to Section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and Section 92(2) b of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).  

It said that they agreed to act together with a common purpose of directly or indirectly influencing a procurement contract under the implementation of the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication (IPEP) by increasing without lawful authority, the total sum of GHS5,720,000 to GHS10,400,000.  

A private legal practitioner, Mr Martin Luther Kpebu, lodged a complaint at the OSP in June 2022 for investigations to be conducted into the operations of NDA and the actions of its Chief Executive and its Board Chairman.  

The complainant alleged that NDA awarded a contract to A&QS Consortium on 28 January 2020 for consultancy services for the supervision of some constituencies in the Upper West Region under the IPEP for the contract sum of GHS5,720,000.00.  

However, upon the exit of the then Acting Chief Executive who executed the contract, the contract sum was illegally increased to GHS10,400,000.00.  

This was done by the removal of the page having the original figure of GHS5,720,000.00 and its replacement at page 25 clause 33.1 of the contract with a fresh page having the bloated figure of GHC10,400,000.00 to make it appear as if it is the contract executed by the previous Acting Chief Executive.  

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The OSP said following the complaint, it interviewed 20 persons over a period of four months, as part of the investigation – which was multi-pronged and spanned a period of six  months before coming out with its conclusion.  

It directed the Controller and Accountant General to immediately freeze payments to A&QS under NDA’s implementation of the IPEP until the close of the investigation. 

According to information gathered by JoyNews, 10 containers holding 40 tricycles each, moved from the NDA premises sometime in October 2019, have been sighted with most of them emptied.

Northern Regional Correspondent, Illiasu Tanko, reported Tuesday, that the containers were spotted at a location shared by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Centre for Active Learning and Integrated Development (CALID) as well as an electrical company.

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“As we speak now 10 containers are still here…some of them opened and actually empty. These containers have been seen here since news broke out that some 400 tricycles had gone missing,” the reporter told News Anchor Emefa Apawu, on Newsnite on Joy FM.

He said some members of the Kandahar Boys group told him tricycles were indeed in the containers taken from the NDA’s premises. The journalist added that some persons who bought them confirmed to him that persons connected to the Kandahar Boys sold the tricycles to them.

Corroborating the report, Executive Director for CALID, Mohammed Awal Bapio, said he saw the containers there on October 26, 2019, but when he asked the landlord, Yahuza Idrisu, who rented part of the space in the property to the group, “he told me yes they called him and said they were bringing some items there.”

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“I know that 10 containers are seated here but as to how many tricycles I don’t know,” Mr. Babio stated.

He added that his accountant asked one of the individuals who transported the containers to the premises to disclose the content of the container.

It was at that point they got to know that the containers were holding some tricycles, he added.

Background

The sudden disappearance of the containers which were being kept at the NDA yard in Tamale led to the dismissal of the acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Alhaji Abdel-Majeed Haroun.

He then reported the matter to the Police Command in the Region to help locate and retrieve the missing tricycles.

Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, was accused of having knowledge of the whereabouts of the tricycles, an allegation he has since denied.