Rawlings To Testify In Court ?

Defence counsel in the Quality Grain Company (OGC) trial, Nana Adjei Ampofo, on Thursday informed the Fast-Track High Court of his intention to invite the former President, Jerry Rawlings, to the court to give evidence in the case.

Nana Ampofo, counsel for the fifth accused person in the trial, Nana Ato Dadzie, former Chief of Defence Staff, Office of the President, told the court that he was currently exploring the possibility of calling former President Rawlings as a witness for his client.

This was after the court, presided by Justice Kwame Afreh, requested from counsel whether he intended calling any witness after his client had given evidence in the case. Counsel said he wanted to inform the court of his intention so that in case of any difficulty with security, the court could assist.

Mr Kwaku Baah, counsel for the third accused person, Kwame Preprah, also informed the court that although he had written to the security service to seek permission to send experts to the Aveyimeh Project site, prior to his intention to call them to give evidence, they had still not heard from the police. Counsel said he intended calling the experts to testify but said they could only give evidence after visiting the project site.

Prior to counsel’s submission, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Osafo Sampong, concluded his cross-examination of Peprah, a former Minister of Finance. Peprah told the court that the delays in the implementation of the Aveyimeh project was not caused by any of the accused persons, but had to do with land clearance among others.

He denied prosecution’s suggestion that QGC was broke and did not have even money to make a 15 per cent down payment to source the loan for the project. He was of the view that the company might have made the necessary arrangements with its bankers in the US for the 15 per cent down payment, before the loan was granted by the Exim Bank, stressing that “it is a condition.”

Peprah explained that the Exim Bank’s regulations were that a company sourcing a loan should first provide a requirement of 15 per cent of the loan guarantee before the bank could grant the loan. The 15 per cent, according to him, is paid after the loan guarantee is signed, but deposited before the disbursement of the actual loan.

He refuted a prosecution suggestion that he was instrumental in getting government to finance the 15 per cent deposit for QGC, stressing that government did not pay the 15 per cent deposit for the company.

He said as Minister of Finance, he was always instrumental in sourcing finances for projects that government was interested in. He said he exercised due care in his dealings with the project and disagreed with prosecution that financial loss were encountered.

According to him, the former Vice President, brought in a Chinese delegation to inspect the project because of government’s determination not to cause any loss. Government, he said, took all contingencies and other options were taken to ensure that the project did not result in a loss. He disagreed that it was because of lack of prudence that the former Vice-President brought in the Chinese to explore the possibility of taking over the project.