Mr. Kojo Bonsu, Managing Director of Ashted Ghana Limited, and one of the candidates contesting for the Ghana Football Association (GFA) chairmanship, yesterday appeared in court in the ongoing trial of ex-Minister of Youth and Sports, Mallam Yusif Issa, and declared that he personally advised the accused not to disclose the loss of the $46,000 to the Ghanaian contingent in Sudan.

Led in evidence-in-chief by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr. Osafo Sampong, Mr. Bonsu, who testified as the 10th prosecution witness, said that Mallam informed him about the loss of the $46,000, in the Hilton Hotel in Sudan but he cautioned the accused not to tell the story to the contingent because " it will bring low moral in the camp of the Black Stars." Mr. Bonsu further explained that he told the accused that if he blew the story that the winning bonus and per diem of the Stars are lost, the players might not play the match or lose the game.

Mr. Bonsu said that the accused took his advice and therefore did not tell the team about the loss of the money.

Explaining how he came to know the accused, Mr. Bonsu said that when the accused was nominated and approved as the Minister of Youth and Sports, the vice presidential candidate of the People's National Convention (PNC), Mr. Ntim Baah, introduced the accused to him because he wanted to lobby the minister to get the nod as GFA chairman. The prosecution witness said that he took the opportunity of the match between the Black Stars and the Sudanese to travel to Sudan to watch the match and also to acquaint himself with the accused.

Mr. Bonsu said that he met the minister in the business class and swapped seats with one passenger to have a direct conversation with the accused to lobby him for the post.

He said that in Germany there was a stop-over and he and the accused went to town and did some shopping, adding that the accused bought two pairs of shoes, while he bought some toiletries and that the accused also met his brother-in- law. He said that when they reached Sudan, the accused could not find his bag and with the help of two Sudanese officials, he reported the case to the ex- minister and also told the airlines officials by filling forms.

He said that the minister was taken aback when he was informed that his bag could not be found. Mr. Bonsu said that on the day that they were about to leave Sudan he received information that the accused's bag would arrive by Sudanese Airways. He said a few minutes after a Sudanese official brought the bag and the accused opened he realised that he had lost some items in it.

On his part, the investigator of the case, Hope Nykdy, who tendered in the accused's statement and caution statement, said that, according to his investigation, the accused put the $46,000 in his pilot suitcase and put the bulky envelope in the green suitcase. He explained that the Bank of Ghana had delivered three envelopes which were given to the accused and that the $8,685 was in lower denomination and was bulky and the accused put that one in his green suitcase, and put $46.000 which was in higher denomination and therefore was less bulky in his pilot suitcase.

The investigator said that even though the accused had claimed that his pilot suitcase was full, he bought two extra pair of shoes in Germany and put them in the suitcase. He said that in the course of his investigation, he asked the accused to bring to him the pilot suitcase but he gave an excuse that he had given it to his friend to travel.

He told the court that the police administration bought a similar bag to assist in their investigation. Attempts by the investigator to tender about four recorded cassettes on discussions involving the accused on the FM stations was objected to by counsel for the accused, Mr. Ambrose Derry, and it was sustained by the court, presided over by Justice Julius Ansah.

The court further ordered that a video clip which allegedly demonstrates how the green bag could have been tampered with could not be tendered in by the investigator, but rather the court ordered the prosecution to invite the one who recorded the video to court to explain the clip. Cross-examination of the investigator continues today.