Gifty Oware’s lawyer runs to Supreme Court over witness statements

The legal battle surrounding former Deputy Director General of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, intensified on Monday, February 2, 2026, as her lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, argued before an Accra High Court that a judicial order compelling his client to file the names and addresses of her witnesses before trial violates the 1992 Constitution.

Marfo contended that the relevant portions of the Practice Direction on Disclosure and Case Management in Criminal Proceedings (2018), which the court relied on to demand disclosure, contravene Article 19(2c) of the Constitution.

He explained that the Constitution guarantees the presumption of innocence of an accused person and places the burden of proof squarely on the prosecution under Section 11(2) of the Evidence Act, 1975.

According to him, forcing the accused to preemptively list witnesses undermines this constitutional safeguard.

The Practice Direction, produced in 2018 and signed by former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, guides criminal case management across Ghana.

Part 2(3a) specifically states that, “without prejudice to the constitutional presumption of the innocence of the Accused person, the Accused person shall, for purposes of case management, disclose the names and addresses of all witnesses he expects to call, should the Court call upon him to enter into his defence at the close of case for the Prosecution.”

Marfo argued that the term “without prejudice” does not appear in Article 19(2c) and therefore cannot justify the Practice Direction compelling pre-trial disclosure.

He filed a motion requesting the High Court to suspend the trial of Oware-Mensah while the Supreme Court determines the constitutionality of this provision.

Opposing the motion, the Director of Public Prosecutions and lead counsel for the state, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, argued that the Practice Direction is not inconsistent with the Constitution.

She emphasized that the manual is designed to benefit the accused by giving sufficient time to prepare for their defence and does not force them to present evidence or speak at the pre-trial stage.

“The accused person is at liberty to state that, I do not have any witnesses at this stage,” she said.

Obuobisa further highlighted that Part 5 of the Practice Direction clarifies that pre-trial disclosure carries no adverse consequences and ensures clarity regarding the prosecution’s evidence.

After nearly three hours of submissions, Justice Audrey Kocuvi-Tay adjourned the matter to February 10, 2026, for a ruling on whether the Supreme Court should interpret the Practice Direction.

She, however, maintained that the trial dates remain unchanged, with proceedings set to resume on February 11, 2026.

Gifty Oware-Mensah, has been charged with serious offences, including theft, causing financial loss to the state money laundering, and abuse of public office.

The Attorney-General’s Department alleged that between February 2022 and March 2024, she misappropriated GH¢38,458,248.87 while managing finance, audit, and procurement at the NSA.

The prosecution claimed that Oware-Mensah unlawfully transferred GH¢31.5 million from a loan facility intended to support National Service Personnel into her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, falsely claiming to supply goods on a hire-purchase basis.

Investigations disclosed that no goods were ever provided, and the names used to secure the loan were fabricated.

The case stems from investigations into the NSS ghost names scandal, which were first exposed by investigative reports from The Fourth Estate in 2025.

Those reports revealed that thousands of fictitious or ineligible individuals—including toddlers, centenarians, and people without tertiary education ties—were fraudulently added to the Authority’s database.

This allowed payments of allowances to non-existent personnel, exposing major lapses in institutional oversight, digital security, and financial controls.

The exposé prompted the Attorney-General’s Office to launch a probe, which confirmed widespread financial malfeasance, culminating in a revised estimate of over GHS 2.2 billion in losses.

Criminal charges were subsequently filed against key figures, including NSA Director General Osei Assibey Antwi and Deputy Director Gifty Oware-Mensah, covering theft, causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering.