The Accra High Court has set November 29, 2024 to deliver its ruling on a submission of no case to answer, filed by former Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ernest Thompson and four others.
The accused are facing charges related to the acquisition of the SSNIT Operational Business Suite (OBS), a project valued at $14.8 million.
The other accused persons are Mr. John Hagan Mensah, a former IT manager at SSNIT; Ms. Juliet Hassana Kramer, CEO of Perfect Business Systems (PBS); Mr. Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT and Mr. Peter Hayibor, a lawyer for SSNIT.
The group has been charged with causing financial loss to the state in relation to the OBS project.
The charges, first brought against the accused in July 2018, stem from alleged irregularities in the handling of the OBS project, which was initially launched in June 2010, with a budget of $34 million.
The aim of the project was to overhaul SSNIT’s operations using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to improve the country’s pension administration system.
According to the prosecution, the project, intended to modernise SSNIT’s operations, ballooned in cost from $34 million to over $66 million between September 2013 and September 2016, yet failed to deliver the anticipated results.
The accused are alleged to have engaged in illegal activities that contributed to the financial losses during this period.
Despite the charges brought against them, the accused have all pleaded not guilty, and the prosecution has successfully presented all their witnesses under the presiding judge, Justice Henry A. Kwofie, a Supreme Court judge.
The court’s decision on the submission of no case to answer will determine whether the trial will proceed or the charges will be dismissed.
