The Tamale Commercial Court has granted bail with stringent terms to five of the six defendants awaiting trial for offenses relating to corruption and payroll fraud.
The sixth defendant was not present since the summons was served briefly. Along with Mohammed Yusif Jay, Stafford Korletey Azudey-Barres, Osman Issahaku, Sammy Suuk, Abdulai Abukari Sadic, and Yakubu Tahidu, the accused have all entered not guilty pleas to 17 counts of corruption that allegedly caused financial loss to the state.
If the accused does not have a passport, they must present their Ghana Card as part of the bail requirements.
In order to be justified, each accused individual must additionally present two sureties, one of whom needs to be a senior public official.
Yakubu Tahidu, the first accused, was allegedly still receiving government salaries while working for another government organization and no longer teaching, according to a National Security report that started the prosecution.
It is alleged that the other defendants either enabled or failed to stop the illegal payments. April 1, 2025 has been set as the new date for the trial.