-Bility’s Daughter Bullied In School

Courtesy: Spoon Network

A four-year-old child's innocent question became one of the most emotional moments in Criminal Court “C” on Tuesday, as former GSA Deputy Director General for Operations Edris Bility broke down while defending himself against allegations linked to 5,000 bags of Saudi-donated rice.

Bility told the jury that after spending days in court and missing the opportunity to pick up his daughter from school, the child told him that a teacher had explained his absence by saying: “Daddy has not been coming for you because they took him to court for stealing rice.”

Bility said the words devastated him.

He told the court that he “broke down in tears” in front of his four-year-old daughter, saying the allegation had gone beyond the courtroom and was now affecting his family and reputation.

But beneath the emotion, Bility presented a detailed documentary defense, insisting that he “did not steal and could not have stolen a grain of rice.”

The former GSA official is among several defendants charged in connection with the handling of Saudi-donated rice, facing allegations including theft of property, economic sabotage, misuse of public money, property or records, abuse of office and criminal conspiracy.

The prosecution alleges that 5,000 bags of 25kg rice released from the GSA warehouse for pre-positioning at the NDMA's Gbarnga Regional Hub were subsequently squandered and could not be accounted for.

He testified that after the NDMA requested the rice on April 12, 2023, he consulted then-GSA Director General Mary T. Broh, who instructed him to ensure that every bag leaving the warehouse was properly documented.

According to Bility, the GSA responded by establishing a gate-pass system requiring signatures from warehouse officials, security personnel, NDMA representatives and drivers, with driver identification attached.

He then identified 10 gate passes before the jury, which he said accounted for the complete 5,000 bags.

The documents showed successive releases, beginning with 500 bags and ending with 250 bags on April 26, 2023, when the recorded balance reached zero.

Bility described the prosecution's allegation against him as “baseless,” “false” and “diabolical,” arguing that he and other officials had actually attempted to create a system for accountability.

He said it was painful to be publicly portrayed as someone who stole government rice when, in his account, he had worked to ensure that every consignment leaving the GSA premises was documented.

For Bility, however, the most painful consequence was not the courtroom accusation itself, but hearing his young daughter repeat what she had apparently been told about her father.

He told the jury that despite the allegations and the damage to his reputation, he remains confident that the documentary evidence and testimony will establish his innocence.

The prosecution maintains its allegations, as the trial continues before Assigned Circuit Judge Ousman F. Feika.