The head of Audit at the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Godfred Agyapong, yesterday disclosed to an Accra High court that Kofi Asamoah Boateng, former Director of Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Information, had no capacity to sign a letter on behalf of the Head of Civil Service, awarding a contract to Plexiform Ventures. Kofi Asamoah Boateng, according to the investigator, was, at the time of signing the letter, not in active service at the Civil Service. Mr. Agyapong was testifying in the case in which Stephen Asamoah Boateng and seven others, including his wife, are standing trial for allegedly contravening the Procurement Act by not following due processes in awarding the contract amounting to GH¢86,915.85 to Plexiform Ventures, for renovation work at the Ministry of Information. Mr. Agyapong, who was part of a team of four investigators who investigated the instant case, on the last adjourned date told the court that in the course of his investigations, he found a contract award letter signed by Mr. Kofi Asamoah-Boateng on behalf of the Head of Civil Service to Plexiform Ventures. According to him, when he investigated whether Mr. Boateng had the capacity to sign the letter, his findings showed that he retired in 2005 from the Civil Service but was contracted for two years. After the two-year contract, Mr. Stephen Asamoah Boateng aka Asabee, who was then Minister of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, wrote to the Head of Civil Service to re-engage Kofi’s for another year. Yesterday, while continuing with his evidence, Mr. Agyapong explained that Mr Boateng signed the contract letter on October 16, 2008, by which time his one year contract with the Tourism Ministry had long expired. Mr. Boateng, he added, personally retired from the Civil Service on October 15, 2008, a day before he purportedly signed the letter and so could not have the capacity to do so. According to the investigator, in his letter of retirement, Mr. Boateng indicated that he was retiring to pursue his political career, thus to contest for the Offinso North Parliamentary seat as an independent candidate. Before Mr. Agyapong could tender in evidence, the response from E.P.D Banes, the chief director of Civil Service, in respect of the letter by Asabee requesting Kofi Asamoah Boateng to be engaged for another year, Nene Amagatse, Counsel for Asabee, informed the court that the letter was not coming from the proper custody, for which reason anybody could make such a copy. Augustine Obuor, lawyer for Kofi Asamoah Boateng, and Egbert Faibile objected to the tendering in of the letter on grounds that there was no guarantee that the photocopy of the letter was indeed from the chief director, as the original copy was not in court for further cross-check. However, the judge admitted it in evidence because it was relevant. Mr. Agyapong continued that the request by Asabee was approved and Mr. Kofi Asamoah Boateng was given another year to work, which took effect from August 1, 2007 to July 31, 2008. On the issue of how Mr. Boateng worked at the Ministry of Information, the investigator disclosed that there was no letter from head of Civil Service that transferred Mr. Boateng to Ministry of Information when his contract ended at the Tourism Ministry. According to him, investigations showed that it was Asabee who sent him to the ministry when he (Asabee) became the Minister of Information. Mr. Agyapong said when he contacted Mr. Boateng on the issue, he could not provide any document to support his position as Chief Finance officer at the Information Ministry. The case will continue today. Mr. Asamoah-Boateng, together with his wife and the others, is standing trial for allegedly conspiring to contravene the Procurement Act by not following due processes in awarding a contract amounting to GH¢86, 915.85 to Plexiform Ventures, for renovation work at the Ministry of Information. The other accused persons are Zuleika Jennifer Lorwia, Frank Agyekum, his Deputy Minister of Information, Kofi Asamoah Boateng, former Director of Finance and Administration, Dominic Yaw Sampong, acting Chief Director, Kwabena Denkyira, Deputy Director of Finance and Administration, Yasmine Domua, manageress, Prosper Aku of Supreme Procurement Agencies and the company, Supreme Procurement Agencies Limited. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges and have been granted bail. Source: Daily Guide