Mary Broh Defends Saudi Rice ‘Eaters’

Former GSA Director General Mary Broh has strongly defended those accused of spendthrift the Saudi donated rice.

Madam Broh told the court at the Temple of Justice that officials who were in charge of the rice followed an inter-agency mandate, “because the rice reached communities and institutions.”

She delivered one of the defense’s strongest accounts on Monday, September 28, in the ongoing Saudi-donated rice trial.

Madam Broh told Criminal Court ‘C’ that government officials involved in handling the controversial donation “did a fantastic job” and questioned how they could be accused of stealing rice that, according to her testimony, was subsequently distributed to communities and government institutions.

Madam Broh, who appeared as a subpoenaed witness maintained that the movement of the Saudi-donated rice to the GSA was carried out through an inter-agency arrangement.

The process, she said, involved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the GSA.

Madam Broh’s testimony provided a detailed account when she sought to distance the accused officials from any suggestion that the movement of the rice was undertaken for personal benefit.

Her testimony had confirmed how officials involved performed their duties and that the movement of the rice should not automatically be interpreted as ‘theft.’

Madam Broh’s most striking testimony came when she addressed the allegation that the Saudi rice had been stolen or improperly diverted.

She challenged the suggestion that the movement of rice from one government institution to another, or its distribution to institutions and communities, in itself, established that the officials had stolen the donation.

Her testimony presented a different picture from the prosecution’s case, one in which government officials had attempted to move, warehouse and distribute a large humanitarian donation through several state institutions.

She raised a concern, in substance, whether the officials had stolen the rice, what became of the rice that ultimately reached communities and institutions?

That question remains central to the defense’s effort to distinguish between accounting discrepancies, administrative decisions, and proof of criminal appropriation.

Broh told the court that she became involved after receiving a call from then Foreign Affairs Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah.

“Kemayah called and said, he needed my assistance in term of warehousing the Saudi Donated rice at the GSA.”

Madam Broh said, Kemayah was a government colleague, and that when he called for assistance, “I agreed.”

Madam Broh’s account, however, was that the process involved several government agencies.

She   She confirmed receiving 11,200 bags of the Saudi-donated rice being stored at GSA.

She further testified that 13,895 additional bags were moved from NDMA to GSA.

According to her account, the rice came into GSA custody through two deliveries, with the total quantity estimated at approximately 25,195 bags.

Madam Broh also challenged the use of figures contained in the indictment when compared with the actual movement records.

The trial continues.