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General news for Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Source: Ghana Times
2020-11-10
Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, Former Executive Director of Ghana COCOBOD
A witness has told the Accra High Court that the certificate covering the contract signed between Ghana COCOBOD and Agricult Ghana Limited in 2015 for the supply of lithovit liquid fertilizer was not valid.
This came to light yesterday when Peter Amoako Osei, COCOBOD’s CFO, testified at the trial, in which Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, former CEO of COCOBOD Ghana, is on trial for alleged procurement infractions in a fertilizer agreement.
The defendant’s lawyer, Mr. Samuel Codjoe, objected to the presentation of the certificate by the Prosecutor, Mrs. Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, Director of the Public Ministry (DPP), alleging that the signature of his client does not appear on the certificate issued by Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG).
Ms. Obuobisa described the objection as strange and said the document came from proper custody and was relevant to the case.
In ruling on the objection, Justice Clement Honyenugah, a Supreme Court judge with additional responsibilities as a superior court judge, said “the document should be admitted as evidence.”
He said that if the lawyer had any doubts about the document, he would have the opportunity to question witnesses.
“Under the circumstances, the objection is vacated and the document is admitted as Exhibit and marked Exhibit z,” Judge Honyenugah said.
On October 7, Dr. Yaw Adu-Ampomah, the fifth witness, completed his testimony.
Dr. Adu-Ampomah, who is the special adviser to the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, denied the charge that he is a card-carrying member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The witness admitted during cross-examination that he donated 35 motorcycles to support the ruling campaign of the nuclear power plant in the Eastern Region.
When Mr. Nutifafa Nutsukpui, attorney for Mr. Agongo, a businessman, suggested to Dr. Adu-Ampomah that his evidence in court is influenced by his political persuasion, the witness responded negatively. He said: “My evidence is based on the fact that I am Ghanaian and, as part of my civic responsibility, if something goes against Ghana, I have the right to object.”
Dr. Emmanuel Yaw Osei-Twum from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Ghana has also testified and completed.
In his evidence, Dr. Osei-Twum told the court that he and Professor Augustine Kwame, founder of the Head of the Department, found that the application of lithovit on cocoa farms from the nursery to the growth and yield stages remains experimental because “currently there is no evidence for the application of lithovit in cocoa plants.
In March 2018, the Attorney General charged Dr. Opuni and Mr. Agongo with 27 counts of alleged participation in illegalities that caused a financial loss of ¢ 271.3 million GH to the state and led to the distribution of quality fertilizers lower than cocoa producers.
It is alleged that Agongo used fraudulent means to sell lower quality fertilizers to COCOBOD for further distribution to cocoa farmers, while Dr. Opuni is accused of facilitating the act by not allowing Agongo products to be tested and certified, as required by law.
The two defendants have pleaded not guilty to the 27 charges and are currently free on bail in the amount of GH ¢ 300,000 each.
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