Accused Discharged in Alleged $3M BOST Scandal Protest Case

The Achimota District Court, in a landmark decision on October 26, 2024, discharged Yahaya Alhassan, President of the Ghana Social Justice Forum, together with two others, who protested against a reported $3 million scandal involving the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited. The court threw out the case, charged with offensive conduct conducive to breaching the peace because the prosecution failed to show up.

Operating under remand, Alhassan, with his cohorts Ali Shaku and Osman Salia, was slapped with several charges, chief among which are conspiracy and abetment. These charges were leveled against them after Alhassan led hundreds of his members in November 2022 to protest at the Dzorwulu premises of BOST, demanding clarity on various perceived irregularities in the company as contained in the Auditor-General's 2021 report. Among them, the BOST board chairman was accused of establishing companies that competed for BOST contracts, resulting in the $3 million scandal. According to reports, Alhassan's protest banner read: "High Fuel Prices Mean Ghana Can't Drive; Edwin Alfred Provencal, MD of BOST, Come Clean for the $3M Fraud and Loot Shared at the Expense of the Mass Unemployed Youth and Kayaye Girls."

Represented by Counsel Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, Alhassan had his counsel move for the striking out of the charges when the prosecution failed to present the witness-a precondition by Magistrate Prince Osei Owusu that the case was going to be struck out should the prosecution fail to take an action.

It has been embraced as a significant moment for both civil protest and transparency since the actions of Alhassan, in addition to his triumph in court, have emphasized public accountability in Ghana. The case brings into the open lingering government contract concerns and fuel price inflation, and it underlined the need for tighter scrutiny to help avert misappropriation of public funds.