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The Supreme Court has by a unanimous decision said on Wednesday March 17 that the charges against a former Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Mr Ernest Thompson are inappropriate.

The five-member panel, presided over by Justice Yaw Appau said the charges preferred against the accused persons do not meet the constitutional requirements.

The State had gone to the highest court of the land to challenge the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the particulars of offence levelled against Thompson were scanty.

Mr Ernest Thompson, and four others who have been accused of causing financial loss of more than $14.8 million in the SSNIT Operational Business Suite (OBS) project.
 
The four other accused are Mr John Hagan Mensah, a former Information Technology (IT) Manager at SSNIT; Ms Juliet Hassana Kramer, the Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Business Systems (PBS); Mr Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, a former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT; and Mr Peter Hayibor, the lawyer for SSNIT.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

Mr Thompson that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient particulars on the offences levelled against him as required under Article 19 (2) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 122 of the Criminal Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30).

His lawyers argue that the particulars are so scanty that they do not afford their client any concrete information to enable him to mount his defence.