SSNIT Software Saga: Allegations against Ernest Thompson senseless – Lawyer

Lawyer of former Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) boss, Mr. Abednego Tetteh Mensah, has described as senseless, the charge of causing financial loss to the state as leveled against his client, Ernest Thompson in the award of a $72 million Operating Business Suite (OBS) contract.

Mr. Ernest Thompson and three others have been indicted for alleged financial misdeeds in the award of an OBS contract for SSNIT.

The other three are former Head of IT Department, Caleb Kwaku Afaglo; former OBS project manager; John Hagan Mensah and Juliet Hasana Kramah of IT company, Perfect Business Systems.

Five persons were initially picked up by the police including one Thomas Samson Owusu but four have been indicted by an Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) report.

A press briefing by SSNIT on receiving the findings of an investigation conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers into the saga revealed.



But, reacting to the findings on Asempa FM’s flagship programme “Ekosiisen”, the lawyer said attempts by SSNIT to query his client on the $72 million contract does not make sense.

He questioned why his client, Mr. Thompson, who is the project manager was not invited by the SSNIT Committee to speak to issues relating to the contract that needed explanations before initiating the press conference.

“Honestly everything doesn’t make sense. If they had called my client he would have explained all those things. It doesn’t make sense. Common sense requires that. Have you seen an IGP in office saying something ill about another IGP in power?. Are you saying they don’t have problems”, he queried.

The lawyer also asked why the board chairman of SSNIT, Mr. Addo Kufuor, will insist that his client has been charged when the Attorney General says otherwise, adding “he is not the spokesperson for the Attorney General or the EOCO”.

“We are not talking about administrative problems; all we are defending is that we have not criminally misconducted ourselves. We have a project manager and they had to talk with him”, he added.

Source: adomonline.com