NCA scandal: "I was definitely not a party to it" - William Tevie

Mr William Tevie, a former Director General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), has said he was not a party to the alleged embezzlement of funds by top officials of the NCA and National Security during his tenure in 2016.

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has retrieved $1 million out of the $4 million allegedly embezzled by the officials under the guise of procuring a listening device to counter terrorism in Ghana.

In 2016, National Security decided to procure listening devices, ostensibly to listen to the conversation of suspected terrorists.

According to the Information Minister, Mr Mustapha Hamid, three officials of the NCA — Mr Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, the former Board Chairman; Mr William Tevie, the former Chief Executive Officer of the authority, and Nana Owusu-Ensaw, a former board member — as well as a former Deputy National Security Coordinator, Alhaji Osman, and Mr George Oppong, the local agent of the Israeli company that is said to have supplied the device, have been named as conspirators.

Read also: BNI quizzes 4 over alleged missing $4m for purchase of listening device

In a rejoinder to a Daily Guide newspaper report that said he [William Tevie] had admitted accepting money at the centre of the BNI investigations, Mr Tevie said the newspaper’s report was “false.” 

"I have never, at any time, whether privately, before the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) or any state investigating agency, admitted that I, William Tevie, Former Director-General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), accepted any money or monies, and which I have agreed to refund. I was invited by the BNI and questioned about an allegation that some former Board Members of the NCA and I were given an amount of money to share," Mr Tevie wrote in his rejoinder.

"I categorically denied the allegation. If the alleged monies were given or received by anybody or group of persons, I am not aware and I was definitely not a party to it. I hesitate to irresponsibly go into specifics because the transaction in question was handled by the National Security Council Secretariat because of its very sensitive nature," he added.

Meanwhile, the Director of Business Development of Infraloks Development Limited (IDL), one of the companies cited in the ongoing $4 million National Communication Authority (NCA) Board scandal, Mr George Oppong, has served notice to take legal action to serve his interest and that of the company.

He, however, indicated his willingness to cooperate with the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) in its efforts to get to the bottom of the matter.

Mr Oppong has been named as a co-conspirator in the scandal, which involves the immediate past Managing Director of the NCA and some Board Members alleged to have shared $4 million, which was meant for the purchase of security equipment from Israel.

Related: IDL threatens court action over NCA deal

Below is a copy of rejoinder to the newspaper’s report

Rejoinder: NCA Boss To Refund $1.5m Cash 

The banner headline of your May 16, 2017 publication, ‘NCA boss to refund $1.5m cash’ is not only false but diabolically concocted to mislead the reading public and tarnish my reputation.

I have never, at any time, whether privately, before the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) or any state investigating agency, admitted that I, William Tevie, Former Director-General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), accepted any money or monies, and which I have agreed to refund. I was invited by the BNI and questioned about an allegation that some former Board Members of the NCA and I were given an amount of money to share.

I categorically denied the allegation. If the alleged monies were given or received by anybody or group of persons, I am not aware and I was definitely not a party to it. I hesitate to irresponsibly go into specifics because the transaction in question was handled by the National Security Council Secretariat because of its very sensitive nature.

Your reportage on the issue was not only mischievous but also smacked of ill motive. I am therefore demanding an immediate retraction and an unqualified apology to me failing which I will advise myself accordingly. William Tevie Former Director General National Communications Authority.