The Supreme Court has thrown out an application seeking to temporarily halt the High Court trial of Gifty Oware-Mensah, former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority, who is facing charges of causing financial loss of more than GH¢38 million to the state.

Her lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, had filed the application to pause the trial while the Supreme Court determined the constitutionality of a practice direction that had been used as the basis for the High Court’s order requiring the accused to file the names, addresses, and statements of witnesses at the Case Management Conference.

In a ruling on May 19, 2026, a five-member panel presided over by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie dismissed the application, holding that even if the accused wished to challenge the constitutionality of the practice direction, that was no reason to suspend the trial.

“We are of the view that, having reviewed the processes so far, the application for stay does not meet the threshold for stay of proceedings. The applicant may choose to pursue the interpretation of the practice direction, but the trial at the High Court may still go on,” the Chief Justice stated.

In October 2025, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, charged the former NSA Deputy Executive, Director Gifty Oware-Mensah, with allegedly orchestrating a scheme that defrauded the state of over GH¢38 million.

The alleged scheme

The prosecution alleges that Oware-Mensah generated 9,934 ghost names on the NSA Central Management System. She then allegedly took control of a company called Blocks of Life Consult Limited — installing her mother’s driver as one of its directors — and presented the company to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).

She reportedly told the bank she had supplied goods on hire-purchase to the ghost names and intended to use their allowances as collateral to secure a loan.

According to the prosecution, the scheme allowed her to fraudulently obtain GH¢38,458,248.87 from the bank through source deductions from the allowances of the non-existent names over an 11-month period.

She faces five counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit, and money laundering. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been granted bail by the High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay.

The constitutional dispute

At a case management conference, the trial court directed Oware-Mensah to file a list of her defence witnesses and their addresses. Her lawyers challenged this, arguing it violated Article 19(2)(c) of the 1992 Constitution, which enshrines the presumption of innocence.

The order was made under the Practice Direction on Disclosure and Case Management in Criminal Proceedings 2018, signed by former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo. Although practice directions are not legislation, they govern court administration and case management.

The specific provision at issue, Section 2(3)(a), requires an accused person to disclose the names and addresses of all witnesses they intend to call at the case management stage — though it explicitly states this is “without prejudice to the constitutional presumption of innocence.”

It is this provision that Oware-Mensah’s lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, is contesting.