Court frees NCA suspect’s passport

An Accra High Court has ordered the registrar of the court to temporarily release the passport of Nana Owusu Ensaw, a former chairman of finance sub-committee of the National Communications Authority (NCA) to enable him travel.

Dr Ensaw, Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, the immediate-past Board Chairman of NCA and three others are facing various charges, including causing financial loss to the state.

His lawyer applied to the court to release the passport because he had to travel for medical purposes.

Appearing before the court yesterday, Johnson Normesinu, who held brief for Samuel Codjoe, told the court that his client would travel in the third week of August 2018 for medical reasons and therefore prayed the court to direct the court’s registrar to release the passport.

He told the court that Dr Ensaw would be back in the country before the next court date which is October 16, 2018.

The Attorney General’s Office, represented by Sefakor Batse, a senior state attorney, did not oppose the application.

The court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Barfour, granted the application and directed the registrar of the Accra High Court (General Jurisdiction Division) to release the passport to the accused.

However, Dr. Ensaw was ordered to surrender the passport to the court by September 30, 2018.

Passport Seizure

An Accra High Court in December last year ordered Dr Ensaw and the other four accused persons to surrender their passports to the registrar as part of their bail terms.

The five accused persons are facing 16 charges, including causing financial loss to the state, conspiracy to steal, stealing, using public office for profit, money laundering, among others.

They have been accused of creating, looting and sharing a staggering $4 million among themselves under the disguise of procuring a cyber surveillance system, which they claimed was to be used for anti-terrorism in the country.

The presiding judge granted each of them bail in the sum of $1,000,000 with three sureties, who should be persons of substance and of good character.

The five were further ordered to submit their passports to the court’s registrar, and seek permission from the court in order to travel outside the jurisdiction during the trial.

The substantive case has been adjourned to October 16, 2018.