• The court hearing the case of causing financial loss to the state, brought against former SSNIT boss, Ernest Thompson, has disallowed attempts by the prosecutors to amend their charge sheet
• The counsel for the the accused argued that they had already pleaded not guilty to the charge
• The court agreed with the argument of the counsels, requesting the prosecutors to seek a leave of the court
An attempt by the prosecution in the trial of a former Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and four others, to amend the charge sheet, has resulted in a clash.
Richard Jyembiby, a Senior State Attorney leading the prosecution had notified the court presided over by Justice Henry Kwofie, that they wanted to amend the charge sheet filed at the court, reports graphic.com.gh.
He explained that there were portions of the substance of the particulars of the offence that were incoherent and for which reason the prosecution wanted to clarify it.
He added that this clarification would have only been done to a single sentence in respect to counts 11 and 12.
That however was not taken lightly by the counsel for the accused persons, who opposed it, giving reasons that their clients had already pleaded not guilty to the original charge sheet and should that be allowed, it would affect the case.
They added that the only possibility the prosecution could have to proceed with that request would be to seek leave of the court first.
The Justice Henry Kwofie court then urged the prosecution to formally seek leave through a motion in order to amend the charge sheet.
The judge corroborated the argument of the counsel of the accused, stating that since they had already pleaded not guilty to the original charges, it would be improper to allow any such amendment.
The court will sit again on October 15, 2021, to continue hearing the case.
Ernest Thompson, who is a former SSNIT boss, and a former IT Manager at SSNIT, John Hagan Mensah, as well as three others, are in court over accusations of causing financial loss of more than $15.3 million to the state.
