By Francis H. Murray
Ann Marie Kamara, wife of the first accused Sheka Sahid Kamara, has testified before Justice Reginald Fyn at the High Court in Freetown in the ongoing Hajj-gate trial on an eight-count indictment of corruption and related offenses.
Led in evidence by Lawyer Saidu Wills, the witness recalled that she was home with her husband on the 18th of August, 2017, when the first accused packed monies which included the sum of Le300 million in a ‘‘Ghana must go bag,’’ US$80,000 into another small bag and Le45 million in a separate small bag. She said they took Le300 million to one of the Ecobank branches at Wilkinson Road and opened a separate account for it, dedicated to the Hajj committee.
The witness added that when they got to the bank, they explained their intension to one Margaret, an official of the bank and handed the money to her, which she then took into a room where it was counted.
The witness told the court that they (herself and her husband) opened a special account in their names, because her husband was on the verge of travelling to Mecca and should the Hajj Committee members needed money in his absence, she would make it available on her husband’s instructions. She said Margaret completed the bank slip with the information she and the first accused supplied and they both signed and deposited the Le300 million.
According to the witness, following the deposit, they drove off with one Alhaji directly to the office of the second accused (Victor Bockarie Foh), who had been persistently calling the first accused to deliver the money. She added that when they got to the 2nd accused, she remained in the car, while the first accused and Alhaji took the $80,000 and the Le45 million to the 2nd accused and that she later realized that the former Vice President took only $20,000 out of the $80,000 and Le45 million and then ordered the first accused to bring the remaining $60,000 on a later date.
The witness said the next day, she heard on TV that her husband who was away in Saudi Arabia had been sacked, after which a search was conducted at their premises by agents of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), who took away different types of passports including that of her husband and daughters, an iPad, the sum of $ 5,000 which the first accused left for them and another Le2.5 million belonging to one Abass.
Under cross-examination by Lawyer Hindolo M. Ngevao, the witness said she and the 1st accused had a joint account in their name and denied that the sum of $20,000 was first deposited into their personal account.
She stressed that any evidence before the court suggesting that she was not in the vehicle that left the bank to meet the VP was not correct, adding that when they got to the office, she remained in the car while Alhaji and the 1st accused went upstairs to the see the VP.
Asked by ACC lawyer, Kelvin Matsebo, for how long she had been supporting her husband in facilitating the Hajj trips, the witness answered that she had only done so in 2017 as a co-signatory to the separate accounts they opened.
When shown the bank statement bearing her names and that of the 1st accused on which it was recorded that the sum of Le300, 000,000 was deposited into that account, the witness denied, saying that she could not tell the actual account but could certainly recall that it was deposited into a new Hajj account.
Challenged by Lawyer Matsebo that a bank officer had earlier testified saying that the Le300, 000,000 was not deposited into a new account dedicated to the Hajj committee, rather into an existing account which bore her name and that of the 1st accused, the witness denied having knowledge of any such account.
The trial continues on the 17th of September 2020.
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