GSB officials ordered to appear before court

Friday, June 4, 2010 (Page 3)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday directed that the official of the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) who conducted tests on 4.9 kilograms of cocaine found on the Chief Executive of the Exopa Modelling Agency, Ibrahim Sima, should appear before it and answer questions on the tests conducted.
The court’s order stemmed from the inability of a prosecution witness to answer certain questions pertaining to tests which were conducted on substances found on Sima on September 7, 2009.
An investigator at the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Mr Samuel Anabah, had on May 26, 2010 tendered in evidence a report from the GSB, which conducted an analysis on the substance found in three tubers of yam concealed in Sima’s luggage, but could not give outright answers on the report when he was cross-examined on it by counsel for Sima, Mr James Agalga.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Quist, then moved in and directed that the officer who conducted the test be invited to answer questions on the report amidst protest from Mr Agalga, who was, on the last adjourned date, overruled by the court when he protested against the tendering of the document by Mr Anabah.
Sima, 39, was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport on September 7, 2009 after security officials had found three tubers of yam containing cocaine in his baggage while he was going through departure formalities for a trip to Germany.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of possessing narcotic drugs and attempting to export narcotic drugs without lawful authority and is currently in prison custody.
During cross-examination, Mr Anabah told the court that he was not present when a team of NACOB officers interrogated Sima.
He also denied an assertion from the defence counsel that six heavily armed men searched Sima’s house on the day of his arrest.
Mr Anabah told the court that he did not send to the police forensic laboratory for examination, the tubers of yam and the scraper which was used to scoop the tubers of yam before the cocaine was stuffed in them.
He said he gave the suspected narcotic substances which were retrieved from the yam in four polythene bags and labelled them from A to D.
He, however, could not explain why results on the substances came in as one and that prompted the court to order that an official from GSB should come to court and testify about it.
Hearing continues on June 18, 2010.