The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, has announced the freezing of multiple assets belonging to the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company, Hanan Abdul-Wahab, and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, in what he described as one of Ghana’s biggest corruption and money laundering cases in recent years.

Speaking at the Government Accountability Series in Accra, Dr Ayine revealed that a fixed deposit account containing GHS 10 million at Republic Bank’s Labone branch, several luxury properties, vehicles, and 61 designer handbags have been frozen as part of ongoing criminal proceedings.

According to the Attorney General, between 2019 and 2024, the couple allegedly used a network of shell companies, including Sawtina Enterprise, Alqarni Enterprise and Fa-Hausa Ventures, to siphon and launder funds from the National Food Buffer Stock accounts, disguising them as legitimate payments.

Lavish property acquisitions

Key assets linked to the scheme include a five-bedroom house at Chain Homes purchased for $1.625 million, a three-bedroom house at Cantonments acquired for $600,000, and plots of land at the Airport Development Site bought for $750,000 in cash. Construction of a luxury residence on the site — valued at $2.5 million — was later awarded to Mendanha and Sousa Construction Ltd.

Dr Ayine also highlighted the controversial acquisition of a 0.32-acre government plot through a third party, Anthony Duke Essien. The land was initially procured for GHS 307,200 but later sold to Hanan Abdul-Wahab for GHS 2.57 million using funds traced from Buffer Stock accounts. Four units of four-bedroom apartments have since been developed on the land.

Additional properties under the radar

The Attorney General further listed other properties believed to have been purchased with diverted public funds. These include:

• A 17-bedroom boutique hotel in Gumani, Tamale, fronted through a Villa Monticello franchise for $250,000.

• A four-bedroom bungalow in Dzorwulu, Accra, valued at GHS 4.14 million.

• A three-storey commercial building hosting Chicken Republic at Estate Junction, Tamale.

• A five-bedroom mansion at Kanvili, Tamale.

• A three-bedroom house at Kpalsi, Tamale.

• A storey building at No. 10 Selby Gardens, Achimota, Accra.

• A 0.27-acre plot at Estate Junction, Tamale.

• A 0.29-acre plot near Workers College, Tamale.

Scheme tied to school feeding funds

Dr Ayine said the assets were traced through a coordinated fraud scheme that diverted funds meant for the National School Feeding Programme. Payments made from Buffer Stock’s accounts to shell entities were quickly moved to companies controlled by the couple and their associates.

“All the assets identified as proceeds of crime have been frozen and will be subject to confiscation by the state as the criminal trial progresses,” Dr Ayine stated.

Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), Abdul-Wahab Hanan Aludiba, has rejected claims linking him to an alleged corruption and money laundering scandal at the company.

His response follows revelations by the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, during the Government Accountability Series in Accra, on Wednesday, October 22, where Dr. Ayine alleged that more than GHS 40 million had been channelled through Sawtina Enterprise to various individuals and entities — including Hanan — in what investigators suspect to be a money laundering scheme tied to his tenure.

In a statement released on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Mr. Hanan dismissed the Attorney General’s assertions as false, misleading, and injurious to his reputation, maintaining that he had no role in any alleged misconduct.

“My attention has been drawn to recent statements made by the Honourable Attorney General during a press engagement, in which my name was mentioned in connectin with allegations of corruption,” the statement read.

“I wish to state, respectfully, that these claims are untrue, and do not relect the facts of the matter. I have no involvement in the issues being referred to…”

Describing the allegations as “deeply unfortunate,” Mr. Hanan insisted that he has no link to any transactions under probe and has instructed his lawyers to study the matter and advise accordingly.

“I have asked my legal representatives tyo review the situation and to advise on the appropriate steps to protect my reputation. to address these claims and to take the necessary steps to safeguard my integrity. I look forward to the opportunity to present my side and to have my day in court, where I am confident that the truth will be made clear,” he added.

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), a key partner of the upcoming 2025 Northern Business Fair, has announced plans to sponsor 30 women entrepreneurs to participate in the event.

The two-day fair, powered by Channel One TV and Citi FM, will take place at the Tamale Sports Stadium on Saturday, October 25, and Sunday, October 26, 2025.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, October 22, Abdul Latif Mohammed, Deputy National Project Coordinator, said GEPA, through its BizBox project, is supporting over 30 young women from the northern part of the country to showcase their products at the maiden edition of the fair.

According to him, the initiative aims to give these women visibility and market exposure for their locally produced goods, which include food, cosmetics, and northern fabrics.

“Understanding the impact of creating visibility for the young people in the area, especially from the northern sector, where most often market activities like this are hosted down south. This particular one gives us the opportunity to also showcase what we have been doing with these young people. As partners, we would send in a minimum of 30 young women we have trained, and they are coming with products ranging from food and beverages, cosmetics, and northern fabrics, to tell what they can do,” he said.

He added that the fair would help participants build networks, secure business orders, and develop new income streams to grow their enterprises.

“They have been coached to create networks, build a pipeline of prosperity and also create orders for future business so they can create another line of income to support the growth of their business. They are cut across the northern region,” he added.

The Northern Business Fair 2025 is designed to position the Northern Region as a vibrant hub of commerce, creativity, and collaboration. It will serve as a one-stop marketplace for Made-in-Ghana products, showcasing innovation from SMEs, startups, research institutions, and indigenous brands across the Savannah, Northern, North East, Upper East, and Upper West Regions.

The event is proudly sponsored by Ecobank, Syde Hassle, the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), and GEPA.

Deputy National Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kamal-Deen Abdulai, has cautioned supporters of the party’s presidential hopefuls to be measured in their language as internal campaigns intensify.

His comments follow a meeting between former president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the five presidential aspirants on Tuesday, October 22, 2025.

Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Mr Abdulai, who described supporters as “more of the problem,” urged them to make utterances that would advance the party’s interests rather than resort to insults.

“We, the followers, are even more of the problem. If you feel you support someone, any language that you are going to bring out, let that language be towards the development of the party and help your candidate win it. The insults will not help,” he said.

He stressed that a clean and issue-based campaign would strengthen the NPP’s unity and position it for victory in the 2028 general elections.

“The castigating of each other will never help, and I think at the end of the day, when we all do this, we will all play a role in building the party and making sure that this 2028 that they see as a mirage for us will rather be the return point of the NPP,” he added.

Former president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo convened the meeting with the aspirants and key party leaders to foster cohesion ahead of the January 31, 2026, presidential primaries. He urged the aspirants to run issue-based campaigns and maintain mutual respect.

In response, the five aspirants pledged to conduct their campaigns with decorum and to rally behind whoever emerges as flagbearer to ensure party unity after the primaries.

Lands and Mines Watch Ghana (LMWG) has defended the licensing of Bawa Rock Limited as an aggregator under the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) scheme, describing recent claims by the Minority Caucus in Parliament as misleading, politically motivated, and lacking industry context.

In a press statement issued in Accra on January 7, 2026, the watchdog group said while parliamentary oversight remained vital to democratic accountability, the Minority’s approach to the issue had generated “more heat than light” and risked undermining confidence in ongoing reforms within Ghana’s gold trading and mining sector.

LMWG stressed that Bawa Rock Limited was not a newly created entity positioned to exploit policy changes, but a long-established indigenous company with operational experience in Ghana’s extractive industry.

According to the group, the company had made deliberate investments in infrastructure, systems, and professional management aligned with international best practices in precious metals trading.

Addressing claims that Bawa Rock’s licence creates a monopoly, LMWG, led by Kwame Owusu Danso, Executive Director of Lands and Mines Watch dismissed the allegation as a deliberate distortion of the GoldBod framework.

The group explained that the GoldBod system provides for multiple licensed categories, including aggregators, self-financing aggregators, and tiered buyers, all operating under uniform pricing structures set by the state.

“Under the GoldBod framework, it is only the state agency itself that functions as a monopoly,” the statement noted, adding that no licensed private operator controls pricing or market access.

LMWG highlighted Bawa Rock’s investment in modern assaying and foundry infrastructure, noting that such capital-intensive investments improve accuracy in gold valuation, protect small-scale miners from underpricing, and enhance Ghana’s credibility on international gold markets.

The group emphasized that Bawa Rock’s licence was issued in accordance with the GoldBod Act, 2025 (Act 1140) and aligns with national objectives such as improved traceability, reduced smuggling, and strengthening of the formal gold purchasing system.

Criticizing the Minority’s continued public questioning of ownership structures and licensing criteria, LMWG described the approach as political theatre masquerading as oversight, warning that such rhetoric could discourage serious indigenous investment in the sector.

“Politicians must be allowed to do politics, but industry must be allowed to work,” the statement said, urging restraint and responsible engagement to safeguard reforms aimed at long-term value creation.

LMWG concluded that attacking indigenous companies without evidence weakens national reform efforts rather than strengthening accountability, and called on the Minority in Parliament to elevate public discourse and support initiatives that enhance transparency and sustainability in Ghana’s gold trading industry.

Source: GNA