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State to produce IT Expert in SSNIT OBS Contract case

By Joyce Danso, GNA

Accra, Oct. 19,
GNA – The State is to provide an Accra High Court with an Information
Technology (IT) expert from the SSNIT to inform it as to when logs or files
relating to the Operational Suit (OBS) Contract could be made available.

This has been
necessitated because Mr Rahman Mujeeb Ahmed, Counsel for John Hegan Mensah, a
former IT Infrastructure Manager, had told the Court that he had not been
furnished with some daily system log files related to or the trial.

Mr Ahmed,
therefore, prayed the court to make those logs or files available so his client
could also answer counts 14 to 18 of the charges levelled against him.

Defence Counsel
disagreed with the state that those logs or file were irrelevant.

He said those
materials would afford his client the opportunity to defend himself, hence same
should be made available in the prosecution’s disclosures.

Mr Ahmed said
he was confused as to how the prosecution could describe those files or logs as
sensitive but irrelevant to the trial.

He said he was
yet to receive any documents relating to the trial.

Mrs Yvonne
Attakoah–Obuobisa, the Director for Public Prosecution (DPP), said the state
was ready to file all documents relevant to the trial by next week.

According to
the DPP, she thought members of the defence team were going to move their
motion for disclosures but rather turned to pray the court to compel them to
produce logs or files that were not relevant to the trial.

“The record of
logging into various storage devices are over a period and they are looking for
every log that went into the storage device. Those materials have no bearings
on accused person’s trial.”

Mrs
Attakora-Obuobisa said the state was going to produce the IT expert to inform
the court as when those files or logs could be made available.

The Court,
therefore, ordered that list of discoveries and other document should be filed
by October 22.

The matter has
been adjourned to October 22.

Ernest
Thompson, former Boss of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust
(SSNIT) and four others have been dragged to court for causing financial loss
to the State in the controversial Operational Suite (OBS) of the Trust.

The four others
are John Hagan Mensah, a former IT Infrastructure Manager of SSNIT, Juliet
Hassana Kramer, CEO of Perfect Business Systems, Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, former
Head of Management Information System (MIS) at SSNIT, and Peter Hayibor, a
lawyer for SSNIT.

The five
individuals have been charged with 29 counts of willfully causing financial
loss to the State, conspiracy to cause financial loss to the State, defrauding
by false pretense and contravention of Public Procurement Authority Act and
authoring of forged documents.

Thompson, Hagan
and Ms Kramer have been charged with willfully causing financial loss of more
than US$24 million to the State, while Afaglo has been accused of gaining
employment at SSNIT with fake certificates.

Hayibor, the
lawyer, is alleged to have known the alleged illegal transactions concerning
the OBS at SSNIT.

GNA

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