SSNIT OBS case: Court labels Godson Ladzekpo a ‘very dangerous and treacherous character’
The High Court in Accra has described Godson Ladzekpo, the current SSNIT General Manager, MIS and Prosecution’s star Witness in the case involving former Director General of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ernest Thompson and four others, as “a very dangerous and treacherous character!”.
The Court stated that Godson Kwadzo Ladzekpo, the current General Manager overseeing SSNIT Management Information System Division, who appeared as the First Prosecution Witness (PW1) in the case, showed a “self-righteous and holier-than-thou” attitude by blaming every member of the OBS Project Steering Committee, to which he belonged.
The Court’s 81-page ruling on the submission of no case to answer revealed that PW1 Godson Ladzekpo, who served on the OBS Steering Committee that approved the variations (Change Orders) on the OBS Project, had knowledge that the Digitization of the Critical Legacy Documents at the SSNIT Records Department was not a component of the OBS Contract.
Despite the evidence, PW1 Godson Ladzekpo seemingly delivered a false statement while in the witness box, asserting that the digitization of critical legacy documents fell within the scope of the OBS Contract.
Moreover, the Court stated, “it is astounding how anyone could lie on oath as PW1 did!”.
Also, the Court portrayed Count 19, wherein Juliet Hassana Kramer, CEO of Perfect Business Systems, was accused of defrauding by false pretense, as “the most bizarre”.
The following individuals were charged in a combined 29 counts related to the $66 million SSNIT OBS project: Mr. Ernest Thompson, former Director General of SSNIT; John Hagan Mensah, a former IT Manager at SSNIT; Juliet Hassana Kramer, CEO of Perfect Business Systems (PBS); Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT; and Peter Hayibor, General Manager and General Counsel of SSNIT. The project aimed to revamp SSNIT’s operations through Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
They had all denied the charges brought against them while the prosecution completed their case after presenting testimony from 10 witnesses.
On December 3, 2024, the court ruled on a submission of no case to answer, resulting in the acquittal and discharge of Juliet Hassana Kramer, CEO of Perfect Business Systems, due to the Prosecution’s failure to establish a prima facie case against her.
Baffour Gyau Bonsu Ashia, lead counsel for Juliet Hassana Kramer, who also held the brief for Thaddeus Sory, had maintained that Kramer should not have faced charges, a stance that was upheld by the court’s ruling.
The Court raised concerns about Mr Ladzekpo’s testimony in a strongly worded statement, following his appearance as the First Prosecution Witness in the case.
After diligently reviewing the testimony of all prosecution witnesses, cross-examination, and examining the voluminous documents (over 300) submitted by both the prosecution and the defense, I am inclined to suspect that PW1 Godson Ladzekpo, as a member of the OBS Steering Committee that authorized variations, upgrades, and additional hardware for the OBS Project, leading to Change Orders and Requests that comprise a substantial aspect of the charges against the accused persons, may have been one of the anonymous Concerned Staff of SSNIT who, according to the investigator PW10, filed the complaint that led to the charges against the accused persons.
The Court declared PW1 (Godson Ladzekpo) to be “a highly dangerous and treacherous character!”