The trial involving former National Service Authority (NSA) Deputy Executive Director, Gifty Oware-Mensah, took a dramatic turn on Tuesday as the first prosecution witness told the court that she personally authorised the transfer of NSA funds into the account of her company, Blocks of Life Consult Limited.

Testifying under cross-examination, the prosecution’s first witness, Gilbert Serbeh Yeboah, Head of Commercial Banking at Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), maintained that the bank acted on clear instructions from Ms Oware-Mensah regarding the movement of funds.

The witness referred the court to a letter dated March 2, 2023, tendered as Exhibit D, which he described as the authority under which the transfers were made.

Reading portions of the letter in court, Mr Yeboah said: “We authorise that funds be transferred from the NSS hire purchase account to Blocks of Life.”

According to him, the instruction, signed by Gifty Oware-Mensah in her capacity as Deputy NSS Director, was “unambiguous” and was executed accordingly.

Defence lawyers challenged the witness, arguing that the document could not be regarded as a standing instruction covering future transfers.

However, Mr Yeboah insisted that the bank understood the directive as authority to transfer funds to Blocks of Life and said Ms Oware-Mensah was contacted before each transfer.

He told the court that communication with the accused occurred through emails, letters, WhatsApp messages and telephone conversations, although no such records were tendered during Tuesday’s proceedings.

The witness further stated that even if there had been any issue with the authorisation, it was the responsibility of the NSA to reject the transactions.

“It will interest you to know that the bank received every dime of the transfer,” he said.

The cross-examination also focused on the operation of the NSA hire purchase account established under an agreement between ADB and the National Service Authority.

Mr Yeboah explained that the account was a suspense account created to manage loan disbursements and repayments under an employer-based scheme for National Service Personnel.

According to him, repayments were mainly made through the e-Zwich system because service personnel received their allowances through that platform.

He explained that because only 90% of e-Zwich funds could be transferred electronically, the remaining 10% had to be withdrawn as cash and later deposited into the account by bank officials.

The defence questioned a series of cash deposits made by ADB staff, including Relationship Officer Christian Abotchie and another staff member, Nana Serwaa Osei-Agyemang.

Mr Yeboah confirmed that both officers made deposits into the account, but maintained that the transactions were linked to the e-Zwich repayment process and were not unusual.

Defence counsel further suggested that Exhibit C, the bank statement tendered by the prosecution, was unreliable because some loan repayments appeared as debits while others appeared as credits.

The witness rejected the assertion, explaining that repayments received from the NSA were credited to the suspense account before being debited and transferred into the actual loan accounts.

He also denied suggestions that ADB deliberately failed to produce the loan account records and the bank statements of Blocks of Life Consult Limited.

Mr Yeboah told the court that while he managed the NSA account, ADB's Gulf House branch handled the Blocks of Life account. He added that investigators had requested and received the relevant records.

The case has been adjourned to June 11, 2026, for the continuation of the cross-examination of the prosecution’s first witness.