Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie
It has emerged that the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) never requested the purchase of the controversial $4 million Pegasus equipment which was allegedly bought by four former National Communications Authority (NCA) Board members.
An Accra High Court trying the former NCA Board Chairman, Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie and four others, heard how the equipment, which was purportedly bought for the NSCS for counter terrorism purposes allegedly, cannot be traced in any documents of the state agency.
Deputy National Security Coordinator, Duncan Opare, made the revelation when he appeared before the court as the fifth prosecution witness.
He stated that the equipment, which is the bone of contention between the state and the accused persons, cannot be found in the 2017 inventory of the agency.
“In summary, I will say that the National Security Council Secretariat, per records, never requested the purchase of the equipment for use by the National Security Council Secretariat for and on behalf of the state,” the witness told the court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor.
Evidence-In-Chief
Mr. Opare, led in his evidence-in-chief by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Yvonne Attakora-Obuobisa, told the court that the NSCS, in late March 2017, received intelligence that Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman had supervised the purchase of the software.
“The nature of the intelligence triggered the curiosity of the agency to find out where the equipment was. First we called for the inventory of the agency. We went through the inventory which listed all the equipment on plans of the National Security for 2017 but we did not find anything about the Pegasus software in the inventory,” the witness told the court.
Mr. Opare stated that the agency went further to find out from its sources whether any Pegasus equipment had been installed at their premises for the use by NSCS on behalf of the state but did not find anything.
“Thirdly we then fished through our procurement file of relevant documents to find out whether there had been a request or procurement of any Pegasus system for use by the National Security but there was nothing,” he said.
Mr. Opare told the court that he then asked his boss the National Security Coordinator to check through his handing over note to see if there was any mention of the equipment but there was nothing.
He stated that the agency decided to invite Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, who obliged.
The witness said he later heard that the accused person and one Colonel Opoku, who is in charge of operations at the NSCS went to a private premise called PS along the Spintex Road and brought the Pegasus equipment.
“Our agency command centre was then called in to take inventory of the equipment and finally took custody of it. Thereafter the matter was referred to BNI for thorough investigations,” Mr. Opare told the court
Cross Examination
During cross-examination, Abu Juan, who held brief for Thaddeus Sory, counsel for Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, asked the witness whether he ever followed up to find out if there was any evidence of NSCS’s link to the purchase of the equipment.
Mr. Opare said, “When we refer a matter to BNI we do not nose around until BNI invites you as a witness.”
Another defence lawyer, Godwin Tamakloe, who is representing William Tetteh Tevie, put it to the witness that some of the activities of the NSCS are covert which he answered in the affirmative.
The lawyer asked the witness whether during the NSCS’s internal investigations they reached out to Alhaji Baba Kamara, who was the then National Security Advisor to former President John Mahama.
Mr. Opare said personally he did not and cannot state whether Col Opoku did so.
“As we speak now as the Deputy NS coordinator you cannot say that the Pegasus equipment is not fit for purpose,” the lawyer added.
“The equipment was never installed on our premises so I cannot say that it is fit for purpose,” Mr. Opare responded.
The immediate-past Board Chairman of the NCA, Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, together with William Mathew Tetteh Tevie, former Director General of the NCA; Nana Owusu Ensaw, a former chairman of finance sub-committee of the NCA; Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, a former National Security Coordinator on the NCA Board, as well as a private businessman, George Derek Oppong, Director of Infraloks Development Limited (IDL), have been accused of conspiring to cause financial loss to the state.
They have been charged with creating, looting and sharing a staggering $4 million among themselves under the guise of procuring a Cyber Surveillance System, which they claimed was to be used for anti-terrorism activities in the country.
The court adjourned the matter to February 7, 2019.
By Gibril Abdul Razak& Mohammed Brimah