Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Mobilla's trial adjourned to Dec 6

Page 3: Daily Graphic, November 30, 2011.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE case in which three soldiers are being tried for the murder of Alhaji Issa Mobilla, a former Northern Regional Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), was yesterday adjourned to December 6, 2011 to enable the prosecution to file a supplementary affidavit in support of an application for the court to grant it (prosecution) leave to file additional evidence in the case.
When the case was called for the prosecution to move its application, a Chief State Attorney, Ms Penelope Mamattah, prayed the Fast Track High Court, presided over by Mr Justice Mustapha Logoh, to grant her a short adjournment to enable her to file a supplementary affidavit.
She said the state wanted justice and the truth to come out, hence the need for all the requisite information and evidence required to be allowed to be filed.
However, counsel for the accused persons, Mr Thaddeus Sory, opposed the adjournment on the grounds that the case had unnecessarily been delayed due to frequent adjournments at the request of the prosecution.
He noted that two of the accused persons had been in custody for more than six years without pay.
Two of the soldiers, Corporal Yaw Appiah and Private Eric Modzaka, are standing trial for allegedly murdering Alhaji Mobilla. A third soldier, Private Seth Goka, is, however, being tried in absentia.
Mr Sory, therefore, asked the court not to grant the request for adjournment or it be granted alongside bail for the accused persons, since their fundamental human rights had been greatly affected.
He said the Attorney-General’s Office had been given too much laxity in the case and saw the frequent application for adjournment as a ploy to delay the trial.
“My Lord, the accused persons have not been treated fairly in this matter at all,” he added.
Mr Justice Logoh, in adjourning the case to December 6, 2011, conceded that justice delayed was justice denied, while justice hurried was also justice buried.
He said he would not accept any excuses or failures on the next adjourned date.

Court threatens to strike out Obinim's case

Page 3: Daily Graphic, November 29, 2011.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Accra Circuit Court has threatened to strike out the case in which the founder of God’s Way International Church, Bishop Daniel Obinim, and two of his junior pastors are being prosecuted for allegedly vandalising and attacking the host and panel members of Hot FM, a private radio station in Accra.
When the case was called yesterday, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr Reindorf Agyemang, told the court that there was no representation from the Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) Office although a State Attorney, Ms Cynthia Lamptey, had been assigned as the substantive prosecutor after the A-G took over the prosecution.
The judge, Mr Eric Kyei-Baffour, said he was very disappointed in the A-G and that it seemed the A-G was not interested in the case.
“I do not accept delays in my court. If the state prosecutor fails to appear to prosecute the case at the next adjourned date, I will strike it out for want of prosecution,” he said.
He subsequently adjourned the case to December 19, 2011.
The other accused persons are Kofi Akwetteh, 35, and Kingsley Baah, 27.
Bishop Obinim, Pastor Kingsley Baah and Pastor Kofi Akwetteh are jointly facing charges of conspiracy to commit crime, unlawful entry, causing damage to private property and assault.
Bishop Obinim, however, is charged with two additional counts of using an offensive weapon and causing unlawful harm.
They have, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges and have been admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢50,000 with two sureties each.
The facts of the case are that about 9:40 p.m. on August 8, 2011, there was a programme on Hot Fm, ‘Nya Asem Hwe’, was being hosted by Kwame Ntim Katakyie.
One of the topics being discussed was an alleged sex scandal involving Bishop Obinim, whose name was mentioned in the course of the programme and his alleged tape-recording of the issue played on air.
According to the prosecution, the programme highlighted issues concerning Bishop Obinim’s wife and an associate pastor.
The accused persons, on hearing the issue being discussed, stormed the FM station with a pinch bar and started vandalising the sliding doors and studio equipment, the prosecutor told the court.
Studio equipment destroyed by the accused persons included a voice processor valued at GH¢7,500; telos hybria, GH¢18,000; head phone distributor, GH¢6,000; two CD players, GH¢4,500; three telephone sets, GH¢2,250; one Dell desktop personal computer, GH¢450; one Toshiba laptop, GH¢750, and one Samsung laptop, GH¢1,600.
The rest of the items were one phone, valued at GH¢800; one console, GH¢18,000; one electro voice microphone, GH¢3,750; one microphone stand, GH¢2,250; glass doors, GH¢20,000, and a KFM transmitter, GH¢45,000.
The total cost of all the items was put at GH¢130,850.

Gambila granted bail

Page 3: Daily Graphic, November 26, 2011.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A FORMER Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Mr Boniface Gambila, was yesterday granted bail in the sum of GH¢500,000 with two sureties by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
Mr Gambila, who was detained overnight after reporting to the BNI on Thursday, is being investigated for some procurement transactions during his tenure as Director of the NSS between 2002 and 2004.
Sources close to the BNI told the Daily Graphic that the Auditor-General referred the matter to the BNI after an audit of the NSS accounts established that more than GH¢400,000 was not accounted for during Mr Gambila's tenure.
The sources said the deficit was in relation to the procurement of cooking utensils, bicycles and mattresses, among other items, purportedly procured for supply to personnel posted on national service.
According to the sources, although the items were paid for, there was neither evidence of the release of the items to the NSS nor delivery to the beneficiaries.

STX settlement in limbo

Front Page: Daily Graphic, November 25, 2011.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE terms of settlement for the amicable resolution of the impasse which continues to stall the government’s STX Housing Project could not be laid before the Accra Commercial Court yesterday.
When the case was called, counsel for STX Korea, Mr Sarfo Buabeng, informed the court that he had forwarded the terms of settlement to Seoul, South Korea, for signatures and he was yet to receive the signed document.
He said although Mr Daniel Juang, a representative of the Korean partners, was in Ghana, he did not have the mandate to sign the document.
“My Lord, it is such an important issue that is beyond the mandate of the representative in Ghana, neither do I have the mandate. I only act on the instructions of my client,” he said.
The latest development compelled the court, presided over by Mrs Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, to give the parties up to December 14, 2011 to file the terms of settlement.
According to the court, failure of the parties to agree and file the terms of settlement would compel the court to either ask that the motion pending before it be moved, withdrawn or be struck out.
At its last sitting on November 15, 2011, the parties informed the court that terms of settlement for an amicable resolution of the impasse had been drawn up for signing and filing at the court.
The terms of settlement are expected to form the basis of the judgement of the court which is hearing the case.
It, therefore, adjourned the case to yesterday for the necessary signing of the document and subsequent filing.
Counsel for the plaintiff, Mr Carl Adongo, expressed the hope that the terms of settlement would have been signed and filed by the next adjourned date.
Although the details of the terms of settlement were not made known, it was gathered that the plaintiff had agreed to pay off all expenses incurred by the Korean partners in the STX deal.
GKA Airports, it was learnt, would also pay off any equity held by the Korean partners, and thereby disengage them from the project.
The suit, filed by GKA Airports Company Limited through its CEO, Mr Bernard Kwabena Asamoah, the man credited with introducing the STX housing project to the government, wanted the court to determine the rightful partner to execute the project.
The plaintiff also sought to sack the Korean partners from the entire project, but the Koreans vowed to resist any attempt to forcibly remove them.
The Koreans were the first to go to court over who owned the company when they sued Mr Asamoah, the Registrar-General and others for allegedly diluting the company’s shares to GKA Airport’s advantage, but the Fast Track High Court, presided over by Justice N.M.C. Abodakpi, adjourned proceedings sine die because the processes to get the case heard were not completed.
Although the President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, cut the sod in January, 2011 for the commencement of the project, boardroom wrangling between the Koreans and their Ghanaian partners have stalled the construction of 200,000 housing units in the country at a cost of $10 billion, starting with 30,000 houses for the security services.

Court adjourns appeal of Ya-Na's case

Front Page: Daily Graphic, November 24, 2011
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Court of Appeal yesterday adjourned indefinitely the case in which the Attorney-General has appealed against the acquittal and discharge of 15 persons accused of killing the Ya-Na and others in March, 2002.
Adjourning the case, the court, presided over by Mr Justice G. M. Owusu with Mr Isaac Duose and Mr Senyo Dzamefe as panel members, said it had been informed by the Registrar that it (registrar) had received a letter from the respondents indicating that they were unaware of the appeal and had also not been served with the process.
A Principal State Attorney, Mrs Evelyn Keelson, who represented the Attorney-General’s Department, confirmed to the court that the respondents had not been served.
The court, therefore, adjourned the case sine die for the respondents to be served with a copy of the appeal notices.
On March 29, 2011, the Accra Fast Track High Court, presided over by Mr Justice E. K. Ayebi, an Appeal Court Judge sitting as an additional High Court judge, acquitted and discharged the 15 accused persons on the grounds that state prosecutors failed to prove a prima facie case against them to warrant them to open their defence on the allegations levelled against them.
The accused persons were charged with conspiracy in the killing of the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II.
They are Iddrisu Iddi, Alhaji Baba Iddrisu Abdulai, Kwame Alhassan, Mohammed Abdulai, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and the former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi, Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani.
The rest are Alhassan Mohammed Braimah, Abukari Nabeli, Mohammed Mustapha, Yakubu Yusif, Abdul Razak Yussif, Shani Imoro, Baba Ibrahim and Ahmed Abukari.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Additionally, the court further discharged one other suspect, Zakaria Yakubu, who was said to be at large and who was facing an additional charge of murdering the Ya-N, for not being part of the trial process.
The decision followed a verdict of not guilty entered by a seven-member jury for all the 15 accused persons.ourt adjourns appeal of Ya-Na’s case

Court orders reinstatement of assistant headmaster

Page 3: Daily Graphic, November 24, 2011
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court yesterday ordered the reinstatement of the Assistant Headmaster of the Odorgonno Senior High School to his position at the school.
Mr Lawrence Kwasi Korley was interdicted in August, this year, for allegedly raping Miss Artisi Windoman, an American volunteer at the school. The victim left the country after reporting the matter to the police.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Essel Mensah, described as wrongful and illegal the purported interdiction of Mr Korley by the Ghana Education Service (GES) when he (Mr Korley) was not given a hearing before his interdiction.
It also asked that all the emoluments the applicant lost while on interdiction be paid to him.
Although the applicant sought GH¢5 million in damages, the court granted the applicant GH¢4,000.
Mr Korley, who was represented by Mr Kay Amoah Jnr, sought a declaration of the court that the letter of interdiction by the GES was wrong and illegal.
It was the case of the applicant that his employers, the GES, interdicted him without any shred of evidence for an allegation of rape.
It was also argued that procedurally, the GES erred by interdicting Mr Korley when he was not given a hearing.
The applicant contended that by the Collective Agreement (CA) as epitomised in the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers, Mr Korley should have been given a hearing.
Moreover, counsel for Mr Korley argued that his client had neither been charged with any criminal offence nor faced any criminal trial, on which the GES could have based its action to interdict him.
The GES, which was represented by Mr Anthony Boateng, had, in their defence, argued that the interdiction was not punitive but done to safeguard the image of the GES and the country.
It said the GES did not want to create the impression to Ghanaians and the international community that female students and members of staff were unsafe in the midst of male teachers or members of staff.
But, the court in its ruling, upheld the arguments of the applicant, saying that whatever good intention the GES had, it did not follow its own procedural requirements before the interdiction of Mr Korley.

Appeal court adjourns Osei-Adjei’s case

Page 3: Daily Graphic, November 23, 2011
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Court of Appeal yesterday adjourned sine die the appeal by a former Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, and a former Managing Director of the National Investment Bank (NIB), Mr Daniel Charles Gyimah, against the Fast Track High Court’s order directing them to open their defence on the charges of conspiracy and contravening the Public Procurement Act (PPA) in the importation of rice from India.
The three-member panel, chaired by Mr Justice Yaw Appau, gave the appellants 14 days to file their submission and serve the Attorney-General’s Department.
The Attorney-General’s Department will also be expected to respond to the written submissions of the appellants within 14 days and also serve the appellants.
The Registrar of the court will, on receipt of the written submissions and responses, fix a date for the case to be listed.
Other members of the panel were Justices Isaac Duose and Senyo Dzamefe.
The appellants were represented by Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, while a Chief State Attorney, Mr Anthony Gyambiby, represented the state.
Although counsel for the appellants and the state were ready to make oral submissions, Mr Justice Appau advised that it was better the submissions were put into writing, in the absence of a recording system at the court.
He explained that it was possible that the judges would not be able to write down every point or issue raised, especially crucial arguments by counsel.
He said the written submissions would, therefore, enable the panel to look at the arguments more thoroughly to pronounce its ruling.
Mr Osei-Adjei and Mr Gyimah, who are each facing two counts of conspiracy and contravening the PPA, were in court.
They have pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them and have been admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢200,000, with two sureties each to be justified.
In the substantive appeal, the two are appealing to the Court of Appeal to reverse or set aside part of the lower court’s ruling that they had a case to answer on two counts of conspiracy and contravening the PPA.
On February 25, 2011, the Financial Division of the Fast Track High Court acquitted and discharged the two on six counts of conspiracy, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, use of public office for profit and stealing.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Bright Mensah, however, ordered the two to open their defence on charges of conspiracy and contravening the PPA in the importation of rice from India.
The two are praying the court to set aside the ruling of the lower court and give consequential orders acquitting and discharging them on the two counts.
The grounds of appeal state, among others, that the trial judge placed weight on irrelevant evidence, as well as disregarded the overwhelming evidence of all the prosecution witnesses that there was no use of public funds as defined by the PPA.
According to the appellants, the trial judge also disregarded the evidence of the prosecution that the NIB was not a procurement entity which was required to apply the PPA.
In its ruling on a “submission of no case” filed on behalf of the accused persons, the lower court was of the view that the prosecution had failed to lead evidence to prove that Mr Osei-Adjei and Mr Gyimah wilfully caused financial loss to the state by allegedly acting together to steal 2,997 bags of rice valued at US$1,408,590.
It also upheld the defence team’s argument that the prosecution also failed to prove that the accused persons used public office for profit, as well as conspired to steal, but directed the two to open their defence on two counts of conspiracy and contravening the PPA.
The prosecution called 17 witnesses and closed its case on November 30, 2010. The trial began in October 2009.

Police-Military conflict… ASSAULT ON COPS DAMNED

Front Page: Daily Graphic, November 22, 2011
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Police and the Military High commands have condemned the seemingly bad blood between policemen and their military counterparts in Tamale that has resulted in assault and counter-assault by the two sister security agencies.
They have also described the situation as most unfortunate and uncalled for and that it should be condemned in the strongest of terms.
The Northern Regional Police Commander and his counterpart at the Airborne Force have, therefore, been directed to table the issue before the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) for discussion, while investigations are also opened to bring the culprits to book.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that he and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt Gen Peter Blay, had held initial discussions last Saturday and yesterday and given instructions on the next line of action to both commands in the Northern Region.
Last Friday, about eight soldiers allegedly beat up three policemen and a community protection assistant of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) while they were on duty directing traffic in Tamale to avenge two purported incidents in which the police also allegedly assaulted soldiers.
The three police victims — Lance Corporal Doris Asante, Lance Corporal Gladys Mensah and Constable Felix Apaana — who were rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital, have since been treated and discharged, while the community protection assistant, Abdul-Fatawu Musah, is still on admission.
The incident is reported to have created panic in the Tamale central business district, compelling traders and bystanders to run helter-skelter.
Mr Quaye said there was an urgent need for a thorough investigation to establish the root cause of the problem and find an amicable solution to it.
He said as the military and the police were sister security agencies that had been working together on a number of platforms, including Operation Calm Life, it was important that such indiscipline be halted.
He reminded all security personnel that being in uniform did not place them above the laws of the land.
“The laws of the land do not apply only to ordinary citizens but all security personnel, including policemen. If you fall foul of the law, the law will take its course, as it will with ordinary citizens,” he said.
“We must, therefore, learn to recognise and respect the laws of the land, as well as those regulating the conduct of security personnel. There should be no room for lawlessness and indiscipline,” he stated.

STX partners reach accord

Front Page: Daily Graphic, November 16, 2011.
Story: Albert K. Salia
PARTIES in the legal tussle over who should lead the construction of the government’s STX Housing Project have drawn up terms of settlement for the amicable resolution of the impasse, which has stalled the commencement of the project.
If approved by the parties, the terms of settlement are expected to form the basis of judgement of the Accra Commercial Court, which is hearing the case.
The court, presided over by Mrs Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, therefore, adjourned proceedings to November 24, 2011 for the terms of settlement to be filed by the parties.
Mr Carl Adongo, counsel for G.K.A. Airports Company Limited, plaintiff in the action, told the court at its sitting yesterday that proposals in the form of terms of agreement had been drawn up for consideration by the court.
He said if agreed by parties in the case, the document would be signed by all the stakeholders and filed for consideration by the court before the next adjourned date.
Although the details of the terms of settlement were not made known, it was gathered that the plaintiff had agreed to pay off all expenses by the Korean partners in the STX deal.
G.K.A. Airports, it was learnt, would also pay off any equity held by the Korean partners, and thereby disengage them from the project.
The suit, filed by G.K.A. Airports Company Limited through its CEO, Bernard Kwabena Asamoah, the man credited for introducing the STX housing project to the government, wanted the court to determine the rightful partner to execute the project.
The plaintiff also sought to sack the Korean partners from the entire project but the Koreans vowed to resist any attempt to forcibly remove them.
The Koreans were the first to go to court over who owns the company when they sued Mr Asamoah, the Registrar-General and others for allegedly diluting the company’s shares to GKA Airport’s advantage, but the Fast Track High Court, presided over by Justice N.M.C. Abodakpi, adjourned proceedings sine die because the processes to get the case heard were not completed.
Although the President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, cut the sod in January, 2011 for the commencement of the project, boardroom wrangling between the Koreans and their Ghanaian partners has stalled the construction of 200,000 housing units in the country at a total cost of $10 billion, starting with 30,000 houses for the security services.

Painter jailed 30 years for robbery

Page 3: Daily Graphic, November 5, 2011.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Circuit Court in Accra yesterday sentenced a 25-year-old painter to 20 years’ imprisonment on charges of conspiracy to rob and robbery.
Ernest Atsipoe-Agbey, the convict, was sentenced to 10 years for conspiracy and 20 years for robbery. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Atsipoe-Agbey pleaded guilty on his first appearance before the court, presided over by Mr Justice Eric Kyei Baffour.
He told the court that he pleaded guilty because he did not want to waste its time and, therefore, asked the judge to deal leniently with him.
Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Abraham Annor, said somewhere in May, 2010, the convict and two others entered the complainant’s house at Tuba with a pistol and knives.
He said they met the complainant’s wife who was then sick.
According to Mr Annor, the assailants tied the complainant’s sick wife with a cable wire and made away with a bag containing 7,300 euros and a Nokia phone valued at GH¢35.
He said just when the convict and the others attempted to make bolt for it, two of them were arrested by the police, but the convict managed to escape.
The two others, he said, were currently on trial at a High Court.
Mr Annor said Ernest was later involved in another robbery incident at the Madina Police Station where he was identified.
He was later taken to the CID Headquarters and after interrogation was charged for court.

Issa Mobilla’s case adjourned to Nov 9

Page 3: Daily Graphic, November 2, 2011
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Fast Track High Court trying three soldiers for the murder of Alhaji Issa Mobilla, a former Northern Regional Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), yesterday adjourned to November 9, 2011, to enable the prosecutor to refresh her mind on the case.
The adjournment followed a request from the prosecutor, Mrs Penelope Mamattah, a Principal State Attorney, who told the court, presided over Mr Justice Mustapha Habib Logo, that she just resumed and would like to study the case docket for the facts and events that had taken place since February, this year.
Mrs Mamattah is the main prosecutor in the case, but a Chief State Attorney, Mrs Merley Wood, stood in her stead while she was away.
Moreover, she explained that some witnesses the prosecution was expecting to testify had not shown up and, therefore, an adjournment would enable the prosecution to arrange for the witnesses to be present at the next adjourned date.
Counsel for the accused, Mr Thaddeus Sory, did not object to the request.
Corporal Yaw Appiah, Private Eric Modzaka and Private Seth Goka have been accused of the murder of Alhaji Mobilla. Goka, who is on the run, is being tried in absentia.
Appiah and Modzaka have pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and murder of Alhaji Mobilla.
The two, who have been in custody for the past five years, were brought from Tamale to face trial in Accra in early 2010. Nine witnesses were called before the foreman of the jury fell ill, a situation which compelled the court to replace him.
That action sparked a sharp disagreement from counsel for the accused persons, who argued that in law the replacement of the juror meant that the case had started afresh.
Subsequently, a new seven-member jury was constituted to hear the case afresh before a new judge, Mr Justice Logo.
So far, five witnesses have been called since the trial started afresh.

Couple gets 50 years for stealing

Page 3: Daily Graphic November 1, 2011.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Financial Division of the Accra High Court yesterday sentenced a couple to a total of 50 years imprisonment after finding them guilty for stealing and abetment of crime.
While Linda Edzidor, a former teller of ECOBANK Ghana Limited, was found guilty on 94 counts of stealing and misappropriating GH¢713,896 belonging to three clients of the bank, her husband, Joshua Edzidor, was found guilty on three counts of abetment of crime and dishonestly receiving.
They both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Bright Mensah, sentenced the couple to 25 years’ imprisonment each on all the counts to run concurrently.
A number of vehicles, including four taxis, a Toyota Camry and a Ford Escape, currently in the custody of the bank and various sums of money in the accounts of the convicts, including that of a company, Strong Foundation, are to be confiscated to the bank.
Although counsel for the defence, Mr J. K. Yeboah, pleaded for leniency before sentence was passed, on the grounds that the couple were the parents of two toddlers, the presiding judge noted that they did not show any sign of remorse during the trial and at times wanted to prove that their statements to the police had been made under duress.
Mr Justice Mensah said the prosecution, in addition to a committal agreement signed by Mr Edzidor to the bank during the initial investigations by the bank to refund the money, was able to convince him that the convicts had to face the requisite punishment prescribed under the law for such an offence.
The facts of the case, as presented by Mrs Evelyn Keelson, a Principal State Attorney, were that between May 2010 and October 2010, three clients of the Ring Road branch of the bank — the headquarters of the Church of Pentecost, the La District of the Church of Pentecost and T. F. Financial Services — reported some unauthorised withdrawals in their accounts to the bank.
The withdrawals, she said, were: Church of Pentecost headquarters, GH¢655,526; La District of the Church of Pentecost, GH¢31,120, and T. F. Financial Services, GH¢27,250.
She said initial investigations by the bank showed that the unauthorised withdrawals had been done by Mrs Edzidor, who had then been in the employment of the bank for four years.
She said it was detected that Mrs Edzidor had performed 8,000 transactions within the period under scrutiny, using her bank code, including the three accounts in dispute.
According to Mrs Keelson, instead of using cheques for the withdrawals, since they were company accounts, it was detected that the first names of unknown persons had been used by Mrs Edzidor to effect the withdrawals.
She said Linda went into hiding when she was called by her superiors to explain the withdrawals, until her husband volunteered to bring her for a meeting with the bank’s officials and also promised to refund any money misappropriated by his wife.
Mrs Keelson said Mr Edzidor had admitted during investigations that he had sought financial assistance from his wife to enable him to conduct his business.
She said as a result of that, Mrs Edzidor, who was on a GH¢450 a month salary, started making the unauthorised withdrawals to support her husband.