State to produce IT expert in SSNIT OBS contract case

The State is to provide an Accra High Court with an Information Technology (IT) expert from 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.