Stephen Howard, the man who is responsible for investigating customers' confidentiality breach at Ecobank-Liberia has admitted to confidentiality breach by the bank.
Howard, who took the witness stand on Monday, January 13, disclosed in his testimonies that it was one of its employees, Yussif Kromah, who leaked the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo Information Services (LISGIS) account statement to an unauthorized person, Alex Williams, former Deputy Director General for Statistics.
"Absolutely, Ecobank does not have anything to do with Kromah's action to illegally release LISGIS's account on the social media platform of Spoon TV," Howard, the head of corporate banking testified.
Testifying at the Civil Law Court, as the defense first witness, in the ongoing US$700,000 libel lawsuit, Howard said Kromah acted outside his official duties and that the bank took prompt action to investigate and terminated his employment with the bank.
However, LISGIS' dismissed former deputy director general for information Coordination and Acting Director General, Wilmot Smith, filed the lawsuit, seeking US$500,000 in general damages and US$200,000 in punitive damages, alleging that an Ecobank employee, Yussif S. Kromah, disseminated false information that damaged his reputation.
Smith claims Kromah provided sensitive bank statements to Alex Williams, an employee of LISGIS and a partner at Spoon TV, who then misrepresented the information publicly, implicating Smith in the unauthorized withdrawal of funds intended for census enumerators.
Smith argued that the bank is liable for Kromah's actions as per respondent superior, a legal legal doctrine that holds employers accountable for their employees' conduct within the scope of their employment. Further to his testimony, Howard said, Smith, then LISGIS's administrator signed on every check that was processed for encashment by the bank.
But, Howard also testified that the account in question belongs to a government agency, not to Smith, and asserts that he has not suffered any damages directly attributable to the bank's actions.
Howard however testified that Smith should direct his suit against Kromah and Williams, who are responsible for the alleged misrepresentations.
He emphasizes that the bank did not participate in any public discussions regarding Smith or his employment status and has no motive to damage his reputation.
Furthermore, Howard testified that its investigation was conducted following a request from the former Minister of Finance, Samuel Tweah unrelated to Smith, and that the bank acted swiftly to address any wrongdoing by Kromah.
Howard further testified its reputation as a supporter of government transparency and privacy remains intact and that Kromah's unauthorized actions do not implicate Ecobank. According to Howard, at one point, the bank was forced to respond to allegations linking Minister Tweah and Smith to diverting Census money into their personal account in Côte d'Ivoire. "We published our response in the Frontpage Africa Newspaper."
The case continues.