Sherry Ayittey Authored Document.. Signature expert tells FTC

A Prosecution witness in the on-going trial of Sherry Ayittey, treasurer of the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM) and three others at the Fast Track Court yesterday presented a forensic report which suggested that the documents on the transfer of money into a bank in Vienna, Austria was authored by Sherry Ayittey.

Supt. (Alhaji) Bukari Yakubu, in comparing extracts of the disputed document with a police statement written by Ms. Ayittey on a photographic chart of the forensic report, told the court presided over by Justice Amonoo-Monney, an Appeal Court judge, sitting as an additional High Court judge that 23 unique characters were similar in the two documents.

"The writer of the exhibit and the writer of the police statement are the same" witness told the court.

During cross-examination by Mr. David O. Lamptey, counsel for Ms. Ayittey, the witness said nobody could forge anyone's unique handwritings, noting that the forger would only know the general outline of his victim's writings.

Alhaji Yakubu, who is a handwriting expert, emphatically denied as dissimilarities, those other 127 characters unmarked in the two documents as indicated on the chart.

Earlier on, the sitting judge overruled objections raised by counsel for Sherry Ayittey during the last sitting, with regards to the legibility of the witness in giving evidence before the court.

The outcome of the ruling paved the way for witness to continue with his evidence in court.

According to the court, witness is competent to give evidence, as evidences already given before the court are admissible by the court.

Counsel for Sherry Ayittey had again objected to the tendering of the forensic report by witness saying, the report was a photocopy document on which witness had issued his signature.

He therefore demanded that witness should tender the original document.

Alhaji Yakubu, seemingly surprised, told the court that the document was the original, which was produced from the computer.

"My lord, this is the original", witness asserted. Ms. Sherry Ayittey, Mr. Emmanuel Amuzu Agbodo, executive secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), Ralph Casley-Hayford, a businessman and Dorcas Satirieh Ocran, a businesswoman were accused of causing loss to the state.

The accused persons were allegedly accused of involving in acts of corruption in the divestiture of the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) in favour of Societe Industrielle Plantation Hevea (SIPH).

The pleaded not guilty to charges of causing financial loss to the state and they are on self-recognisance bail.