Vitus Azeem, an anti-corruption campaigner says the jail term handed the three former officials of the National Communications Authority (NCA) may not serve its intended purpose in Ghana’s fight against corruption.
Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, a former Board Chairman of the NCA, was on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, sentenced to six years imprisonment while a former Director-General of the same institution, William Tetteh Tevie was sentenced to five years imprisonment for causing financial loss to the state.
Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, a former Deputy National Security Coordinator was also sentenced to five years imprisonment.
While sharing his opinion on the issue on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, Vitus Azeem said the sanctions may not necessarily deter others from committing such offences.
“In the normal scheme of things, it should put fear in public officers on how they handle state funds because nobody wants to go to jail because even the torture of going to court two to three years should be enough to scare people. Unfortunately, we may not get that result in our circumstance because sometimes it’s not just one person who decided to do these things but you are put there to help a party or some people raise money for a campaign. So when you do them, you are always sure that you will get their support except in this case where there was a change in government and when it happens this way, it is normally difficult to get support so you will be uncovered. So those are the things that do not make our sanctions work effectively.”
Background
According to the facts of the case as presented by the Attorney-General, Baffoe-Bonnie, Tevie, Ensaw, and Osman were allegedly aided by a businessman, Derrick Oppong to engage in the criminal act.
It said the previous National Democratic Congress administration had contracted an Israeli company, NSO Group Technology Limited, to supply a piece of eavesdropping equipment at a cost of $6 million to enable the authority to monitor conversations of persons suspected to be engaged in terror activities.
A local agent, Infraloks Development Limited, allegedly charged $2 million to facilitate the transaction, bringing the total sum to $8 million.
The facts explained that the National Security did not have the money to fund the transaction and for that reason, the NCA, which had supervisory jurisdiction over the use of such equipment, was asked to fund the project.
It said $4 million was withdrawn from the NCA’s account, while $1 million out of the withdrawn amount was deposited into the account of the Israeli company.
The Attorney-General explained that the remaining $3 million was lodged in the account of Oppong, who acted as a representative of the local agents, Infraloks Development Ltd.
The state closed its case against the accused persons on the 18th of April 2019, following which the accused persons chose to exercise their rights under section 173 of the Criminal and Other Offences Procedure Act (Act 30) to file ‘Submissions of No Case.’
Sentencing to be appealed
There are reports that lawyers of the jailed former Board Chairman of the National Communication Authority (NCA) and two others have lacing their boots to appeal the ruling.
According to the Special Aide to Former President Mahama, Joyce Bawa Mugtari, the legal representation will go the extra mile to seek justice for their clients.
“You do know that they were five of them at the inception, but one of the accused had actually gone to the Court of Appeal and submitted a motion of no case which was actually granted. In the same judgment, if you read further, you will find that the Court of Appeal had even taken issues with the manner in which the case had been handled in the lower court calling it a type of gymnastics that didn’t quite make sense and wondering why the evidence was so far apart from the manner on which the case was travelling. This is just the court of the first instance, which is a High Court. They have the right of appeal which they intend to file this morning, and I look forward to the outcome.”
