Led in evidence by lead prosecution counsel Ady Macauley, now Commissioner designate of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Momoh Konte is one of the high-profile witnesses testifying in this alleged telecommunications fraud involving approximately six hundred thousand USD.
Exhibit ‘M’ was shown to the witness titled Receipt of Payment/Renewal of NRA Tax and Update of NASSIT. The letter is purported to have been authored by Mr. Konte. He told the court he did not author the document neither authorized any person to cause the letter on his behalf. He said the signature on the letter was not his, and in fact his name Konte was spelt as Conteh.
Exhibit ‘H1’, containing news stories with a specific reference to a caption: Government to Award TelCAB and Network Proximity Sierra Leone limited International gateway licences, was shown to him. He told the court that the Ministry of Information and Communications was the sector ministry of NATCOM, but on matters of granting of licences it was the sole responsibility of NATCOM.
He said he was unaware of any application made by Network Proximity for an international gateway licence. “I only came to know about this issue through ACC,” Momoh Konte told the court.
However, Momoh Konte also stood as prosecution witness (PW3) in the matter against Dennis Jones. He said he did not know the accused person neither the company – Network Proximity. Exhibit ‘C’, containing news stories with a specific reference to a caption: Government to Award TelCAB and Network Proximity Sierra Leone limited international gateway licences, was shown to him. The story was written by journalist Dennis Jones. Mr. Konte said NATCOM was responsible for the issuance of telecommunications licences, and that the content of the story did not reflect the policies of the institution.
Both Mohamed Osman Sesay and Dennis Jones were not represented in court. In a previous session their defence counsel failed to announce representation on their behalf, and later walked out of court while the matter was in session.
The court was however informed that Mr. Abdulai would appear at the next trial date.
Ady Macauley (Commissioner designate) and Jeelo Kainwo represented the Anti-Corruption Commission. The matter was adjourned to Thursday 17 March 2016.
