Justice Audrey Kocuvi-Tay, an Accra High Court judge presiding over the case of former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority, Gifty Oware-Mensah, has rejected a request to slow down proceedings.
Gary Nimako Marfo, the lawyer for Gifty Oware, pleaded with the court to delay the commencement of her trial to allow more time to address pre-trial issues.
He made this plea following the Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, informing the court of the prosecution’s intention to make adjustments to the figures in the charge sheet.
The presiding judge, however unhappy with the approach, stated that the proposed amendments would not stop the court from fixing a date for the trial to begin.
The Judge stated, “If I were you, I would have asked one of my colleagues to quickly do that and serve them now because they [counsel for the accused] are here”.
Lawyers for embattled Oware-Mensah saw an opportunity to request that the court allow more time for the amendments to be completed and served before a trial date is fixed.
Gary Nimako Marfo stated, “My Lady, let the prosecution amend the charge sheet as she has informed the court before setting a date for the trial. Without that, it is obvious we cannot do anything,” he said, before adding, “My Lady, please go slowly.”
Justice Kocuvi-Tay immediately ordered defence counsel to withdraw their statement, saying, “What do you mean by I should go slowly? Withdraw that statement. I am here to work”.
The presiding subsequently fixed January 22, 2026, as the date for the start of the trial, with the case adjourned to January 20, 2026.
Background
Mrs Oware-Mensah has been accused of causing a financial loss of over GH¢38 million to the state.
In court, Gifty Oware-Mensah pleaded not guilty to five charges levelled against her by the Attorney General.
The former NSA Deputy Executive Director pleaded not guilty to five charges, including stealing and money laundering, in the ₵38 million ghost names scandal.
The Attorney-General’s Department alleged Gifty Oware-Mensah misappropriated a total of GH¢38,458,248.87 between February 2022 and March 2024, overseeing finance, audit, and procurement at the NSA.
According to prosecutors, she dishonestly transferred GH¢31.5 million from a loan facility meant to support National Service Personnel into her private company accounts.
The said money was under the pretext of supplying goods on a hire-purchase basis; however, investigation revealed no such goods were supplied, and the names used to secure the loan were ghost names from the NSA’s internal system.
AG also alleged, “Out of the money received, the accused transferred GH¢22,925,518,69 to Amaecom Global Company of which she was a director, and the remaining amount to three other companies.”
Gifty Oware-Mensah’s charges include “Stealing GH¢31,502,091.40 belonging to the National Service Authority. Willfully causing financial loss to the state through the fake hire-purchase arrangement, Abuse of public office for personal gain and Money laundering through the transfer of funds into personal and affiliated accounts”.
See the post below:
Update from the court.#NSSscandal #TheFourthEstate pic.twitter.com/BEhll7DHNQ
— The Fourth Estate (@fourthestategh) January 14, 2026