Court dismisses bid to strike out charges in NPA UPPF corruption case

The High Court has dismissed an application by the accused persons in the ongoing National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) corruption case seeking to have the charges against them struck out.

The ruling means the substantive trial will continue.

The case involves former Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid; former UPPF Coordinator, Jacob Kwamina Amuah; NPA staff member, Wendy Newman; Bright Bediako-Mensah; Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah; and three companies, Propnest Limited, Kel Logistics Limited and Kings Energy Limited.

The accused persons had asked the Court to strike out the charges brought against them.

However, the High Court dismissed the application, describing it as without merit.

The Republic has filed 54 charges against the accused persons, including corruption and corruption-related offences, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy to commit a crime.

According to the Republic, approximately GH¢291.57 million and US$332,407 was allegedly unlawfully obtained through a scheme involving officials of the NPA between 2022 and December 2024.

The prosecution further alleges that portions of the funds were channelled through companies linked to some of the accused persons.

It maintains that some of the money was subsequently used in transactions involving land, buildings, trucks and fuel stations.

With the Court dismissing the application to strike out the charges, the accused persons will now proceed with the substantive trial.

By: Jacob Aggrey