Tsikata's Counsel Begins Address
By William Yaw Owusu
Friday, 02 June 2006
COUNSEL for Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), who is standing trial on charges of causing financial loss to the state, yesterday began addressing the Accra Fast Track High Court.

Both the prosecution and defence are expected to address the court, after which the Judge will set a date for judgement.

Tsikata has been charged with three counts of causing financial loss of about ¢2.3 billion through a loan he, acting on behalf of the GNPC, guaranteed for Valley Farms Limited, a private cocoa producing company and another count of misapplying public funds.

Valley Farms contracted the loan from Caisse Centrale, now Agence Fracaise De, Development (ADF), but defaulted in the payment, compelling GNPC which acted as guarantors, to pay the loan in 1996.

Professor Emmanuel Victor Oware Dankwa, counsel for Tsikata, told the court, presided over by Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban, that there were still errors in the entire proceedings, but said, “despite these, I will proceed to address this court.”

Before the case was adjourned to June 12, Professor Dankwa indicated to the court that the address would be based on seven grounds.

He said the defence would firstly “show that the charges against the accused remain flawed in terms of the constitutional provisions against retroactive legislation and requiring an existing law to be the basis of any charge.”

Secondly, “we show that the evidence from the prosecution witnesses exonerates the accused completely. We show that Mr Jude Arthur, one of the witnesses told numerous lies to the court which are exposed by testimony from other prosecution witnesses and the documents they tendered and from defence’s evidence.”

Also, “we show the importance of the testimony from the court witnesses not only for discrediting Mr. Arthur but, even more, for bringing over 40 relevant documents which exonerate the accused.”

Furthermore, “we show that evidence from the defence was truthful and confirmed by the documentary testimony produced by the court witnesses and even the prosecution itself.”

Prof. Dankwa further said they will “highlight the legal provisions applicable to evidence before the court and prove that the only possible outcome in this trial is acquittal.

He said they will also relate the legal provisions of the ingredients of each of the counts and make some remarks about the conduct of the trial.