January 20

14
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2020
THE FORMER Board Chairman
of the National Communications
Authority
(NCA), Eugene Baffoe Bonnie,
has vehemently denied
claims that he and Matthew William
Tetteh Tevie, a former Director General
of the NCA, discussed how they were
going to share the four million dollars
which came as part of their share in
purchasing the cyber security machine.
Baffoe-Bonnie, who was being subjected
to cross-examination by the Director
of Public Prosecution (DPP),
Mrs Yvonne Atakorah Obuobisah, also
disagreed with the DPP that he held a
meeting with Tevie and Dr. Ani, a Director
of Finance of NCA, to make
NCA bear the cost of the cybersecurity
machine.
Baffoe-Bonnie, Tevie, Nana Ensaw, a
former NCA Board Member, Alhaji
Osman Mimina, a former Deputy National
Security Coordinator, and George
Derek Oppong, a businessman, are
being held for allegedly causing financial
loss to the state.
The case has been adjourned to January
21.
Below are questions
and answers
Director of Public Prosecution
(DPP): In your own statement to the police
dated July 25, 2017, which was tendered
without any objection from you,
you stated that you had a verbal discussion
with A4 (Alhaji Salifu Mimina
Osman) and you agreed to share the
total cost of $8m.
$4M NCA trial
Ex-board
chair grilled
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
captainmut@yahoo.com
• Over $4million to be shared
• Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, former
NCA board chairman
It is therefore correct that you
acted on exhibit G (request)?
Baffoe-Bonnie (BB): But we
didn’t mention exhibit G here.
DPP: What I mean by exhibit G
is that you acted on the request.
BB: That was not a formal act
on my part that NCA should pay
half of it. It was a casual conversation.
I was trying to make A4 (Alhaji
Osman) understand that the $8m
was not something the NCA could
support based on the content of the
deliberation of the finance subcommittee.
DPP: This conversation also
shows that you were copied because
you had fair knowledge and you
were waiting for it to come.
BB: I was copied but to say I was
waiting for it to come is not correct.
DPP: It is correct that you had
fair knowledge?
BB: Correct, because I was
copied.
DPP: When you look at exhibit G,
did it make any reference to exhibit 6?
BB: It does not. The same content, different
figure. One is $34m and one is $8
million and if you situate it within the deliberations
made within the financial committee,
it says I’d get something less than
$34million, then I can because I’m interested
in the project.
DPP: You just agreed and told this
court that provisions will be made in the
future budget and this was not done.
BB: With respect to the budget, I think
I did answer the question and I can repeat
that since I was not a member of the finance
subcommittee, I was not intimately
familiar with most of the things they were
doing.
DPP: The budget was approved by the
board of which you were the chair, is that
not so?
BB: That is not so. The budget gets approved
by the financial subcommittee and
it is reported to the board at meetings.
DPP: Take a look at the minutes of 131
meeting of the NCA board. From the minutes,
it is said the meeting considered and
approved the provisional budget as recommended
by the finance subcommittee, so
the finance committee only made recommendations
and it is the board that makes
the final decision by approving. In this particular
instance the board chaired by you
approved the budget which did not make
any provisions or whatsoever for support
to national security. Is that not so?
BB: That is so with an explanation. To
my recollection, Dr Ani explained how the
NCA, I believe currently still, handles industry
support and development. These reports
come in on regular basis to the
authority. In other words, you can have a
request from a particular institution today
and you can get another from another institution
the next day.
DPP: Dr Ani explained that NCA always
makes provisions in its budget for institutional
support, is that not correct?
BB: That is correct.
DPP: When you look at exhibit F,
which is a request to transfer $4m to IDL
account and from Dr Ani’s evidence in this
court, you and A2 (William Matthew Tetteh
Tevie) were the ones who were trying him
to make these payment to IDL? Is that not
so.
BB: That is not so, my lord.
DPP: Now from your own police statement
in which you wrote that you agreed
that NCA will pay half of the request of
the $8m, which is $4m, and also the fact
that at the time exhibit F was authored, the
request had not been received at the NCA
and Dr Ani who was not privy to the conversation
between you and A4 (Alhaji
Osman) could not have been privy to this
amount except you told him.
BB: If you look at exhibit F (letter of
transfer) I was not quoted so I had no idea.
DPP: You said in your statement that
you took the decision to split the cost so
that NCA pays $4m and national security
pays $4m. Where was this decision taken?
BB: It’s been three years. I don’t remember.
DPP: Can you tell this court whether
Dr Ani was present at this meeting.
BB: I don’t remember.
DPP: I put it to you that Dr Ani was
not present at this meeting you had with
Alhaji Osman where you and Alhaji
Osman took a decision to pay $4m as the
cost to be borne by NCA to cover the
cyber security equipment.
BB: That is correct. Dr Ani was not
present at any meeting I had with A4. Dr
Ani in this court outlined how payment is
made by NCA. Nowhere in his description
could you find the role of the board chairman.
DPP: I put it to you that you in A2’s
(Tetteh Tevie) office and together with A2
directed Dr Ani to prepare exhibit F.
BB: That is not so.
DPP: I further put it to you that exhibit
G makes no reference or whatsoever to exhibit
6. Therefore exhibit G stands on its
own.
BB. That is not so.
DPP: It is clear from exhibit E that
when exhibit G was received, payment had
already been authorized without any approval
from the board.
BB: That is not so.
DPP: This is further born out of exhibit
F, which predates exhibit G.
BB: That is not so.
To my recollection
Dr Ani explained
how the NCA I
believe currently
still handles
industry support
and development.
These reports come
in on regular basis
to the authority.