NSS Boss booted out

Lawyers for Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, the immediate past Executive Director of the National Service Secretariat (NSS), yesterday failed to secure a revision of the bail condition for their client at the Economic, Financial and Tax Division of an Accra High Court.

Dennis Adjei Dwomoh, counsel for Alhaji Imoro, had wanted the court to review the specific bail condition that required the accused person to report to the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) every Wednesday.

He argued that all that the accused person does when he goes to the BNI office is just to write his name and leave.

Alhaji Imoro, after a long fight for freedom by his lawyers, was recently granted bail in the sum of GH¢90 million with three sureties all to be justified with properties worth GH¢1 million.

As part of his bail conditions, he was expected to report to the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) three times in a week or any other days upon the BNI’s request.

Alhaji Imoro was also to surrender his travelling passport to the BNI.

But the trial judge, Justice Georgina Mensah-Datsa, ruling on the matter, indicated that Alhaji Imoro must still report to the BNI.

This was after Fred Awindago, representing Ms. Cynthia Lamptey, Director of Public Prosecution, had once again told the court that the police had not yet completed their investigations into the matter.

He said the prosecution needed a month adjournment in order to conclude investigations.

The excuse as proffered by the state yesterday is not different from what they had earlier told the court.

It may be recalled that Ms. Lamptey at the last adjourned date told the court that the police were conducting a nationwide investigation into the matter and as such needed more time to complete same.

According to her, prosecution intended to start the case but were unable to do so because investigations were still ongoing.

The NSS boss is standing trial over allegations that he had from the month of September 2013 to July 2014, at the NSS headquarters in Accra, stolen GH¢86.9 million belonging to the Government of Ghana.

According to the prosecution, investigation  so far revealed that for every month – from September 2013 to July this year – an amount of GH¢7.9 million was paid to 22,612 non-existent or ‘ghost’ service persons.

Meanwhile, Alhaji Imoro has pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing GH¢86.9 million belonging to the government of Ghana through the payment of ‘ghost’ or non-existent service personnel.

The case has been adjourned to March 12, 2015.