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General news for Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Source: FM class
2020-11-18
Peter Osei Amoako, COCOBOD CFO
The sixth prosecution witness in Opuni’s ongoing trial, Peter Osei Amoako, COCOBOD’s Chief Financial Officer, told the court on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, to the court, chaired by Judge CJ Honyenuga, that the type and amount of fertilizers and other agrochemicals acquired by COCOBOD, are determined by the CEO and not decided in collaboration by the user units of the Cacao Pest and Disease Control (CODAPEC) and High Technology (Hi-Tech) programs, in collaboration with the Division Extension and Health of Cocoa (CHED), the Division of Seed Production and the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), as the state’s third witness, Dr. Yaw Adu-Ampomah, told the court in his testimony.
When asked by Mr. Codjoe if “before agrochemicals are bought”, the “user department or unit” sends “the list of pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers needed for a particular year to the Procurement Unit”, which Now it is a department, Mr. Osei Amoako said: “My Lord, the user unit will send its budget to be included in the budget, as part of the consolidated budget and it will be captured in the procurement plan”, adding: “The determination of quantities is not made by the users department ”.
Pressed by Mr. Codjoe on whether CODAPEC, Hi-Tech and CHED “meet to determine the type and types of fertilizers to be purchased for the cocoa season”, Mr. Osei Amoako replied: “No, my Lord” , adding: “CHED is not part of determining the budget and quantities of chemicals and fertilizers.”
Contrasting Mr. Ossei Amoako’s evidence on the hiring procedure with that of the state’s third witness, Mr. Codjoe told COCOBOD’s Chief Financial Officer that: “In fact, a former Deputy Executive Director, in the person of Dr. Adu-Ampomah, reported this court that CHED plays a role in determining the fertilizers and chemicals to be purchased for a cocoa season “and asked the witness,” Do you agree with that? ”.
“My Lord, I have not heard Dr. Adu-Ampomah make that comment,” replied the witness.
When Dr. Opuni’s attorney told the witness, “So I assume your answer is no,” Mr. Osei Amoako replied, “My Lord, I don’t know,” repeating, “I have not heard Dr. Adu- Ampomah make that comment ”.
The witness also pointed out, during the cross-examination, that: “In the procurement plan, we have the total quantities and values”, and highlighted: “The beginning of the acquisition of chemical products and fertilizers for the approval of the PPA is by the Executive Director “.
After Mr. Codjoe confronted the witness with two acquisition contracts, one of which Mr. Osei Amoako admitted to being a witness, that he had Hi-Tech, as part of the folio number, the Attorney General’s witness maintained his position that that did not mean that the amount purchased was determined. by the user unit.
“My Lord, it is not,” he said, explaining: “The reference here is a reference by the procurement unit,” which, according to him, is intended to create a file for each contract according to the PPA regulations. “The number indicated here does not suggest the determination of quantities by Hi-Tech.”
Regarding the second contract, Mr. Osei Amoako told the court that the witness’s signature was not his.
Dr. Opuni’s lawyer later told the witness that in COCOBOD, “before the fertilizers are purchased, the user units and not the Executive Director” indicate “the type and types of fertilizer between 2014 and 2016”, as that Dr. Osei Amoako said: “My Lord, I do not agree”, emphasizing: “My Lord, the process of purchasing chemicals and fertilizers is determined and approved by the Chief Executive Officer.”
Dr. Opuni’s lawyer then challenges him on that once again with contrary evidence from the state’s third witness, saying: “In fact, contrary to what he just said, Dr. Adu-Ampomah, who was a two-time CE Deputy , in its evidence on November 7, 2019, before this court, in response to a question on page 4 of the process, agreed that it is about CODAPEC, Hi-Tech and CHED, together with its response that the Division of Seed Production and CRIG, are the units that specified the amounts of fertilizers needed for a year ”.
Mr. Osei Amoako replied: “My Lord, I do not know the Seed Production Unit, being CHED and CRIG part of the determination of the quantities to be acquired for CODAPEC and Hi-Tech. My Lord, I have said that the unit will present its budget, that is, CODAPEC and Hi-Tech. The determination of the quantities to buy is made by the General Director ”.
On a different issue, Mr. Osi Amoako, who had previously told the court that he had held his post for four years, was forced, during questioning on Tuesday by Mr. Codjoe, to clarify that he was appointed substantive Director of Finance in September 2017 after having acted in that capacity from January 2017 until its confirmation.
“My Lord, I was appointed in January 2017 to act as Chief Financial Officer and confirmed in September 2017,” he said.
Mr. Codjoe then told the witness: “So when you reported to this court that you were appointed Director of Finance for four years; It can not be true “.
Mr. Osei Amoako replied, “Yes, my Lord. My Lord, as I said, I was appointed to act in 2017, January. At the time I was appointed, there was no substantive CFO because the CFO at the time was retired and had a contract that was terminated. My Lord, I was not acting for anyone. At that time, there was [Director of Finance]”.
Confronted by Mr. Codjoe that “all the documents that he signed before September 2017 had his proper designation as Acting CFO and not CFO”, Mr. Osei Amoako replied, “Yes, my Lord” .
“And I tell you that he deliberately misled this court by stating that he had been in the position of Director of Finance for four years,” the attorney for the first defendant further told the witness, to which he replied: “No, my Lord.”
This is not the first time that Mr. Osei Amoako has contradicted the evidence provided by the state’s third witness.
About two weeks ago, Mr. Osei Amoako refuted the long-standing position of Dr. Adu-Ampomah, who is also the special advisor to the Minister of Agriculture that COCOBOD participates in competitive tenders for the purchase of fertilizers.
Dr. Adu-Ampomah, in his court testimony, noted that COCOBOD does not typically participate in exclusive sourcing, but advertises that companies supply fertilizers to it, a claim that was criticized by Codjoe.
Dr. Adu-Ampomah collapsed under cross-examination when Mr. Codjoe cited numerous cases in which COCOBOD single-source fertilizers.
In his main evidence, Mr. Osi Amoako pointed out that in the case of acquiring fertilizers, the COCOBOD executive director writes to the Public Procurement Authority to request permission to obtain the fertilizer he needs for a given crop year.
He said: “In the case of fertilizer, although the fertilizer goes through the same budgeting processes before it is purchased, it has to be tested for a minimum of two years at CRIG. Once it goes through the testing regime, CRIG issues a report and submits it to the Executive Director for approval. Once the report is approved, CRIG issues a certificate to the supplier valid for one year. Once these processes have been completed, COCOBOD will consider that particular fertilizer as part of the list of fertilizers to be purchased.
Based on this arrangement, suppliers will be asked to submit quotes. The CEO will now send a letter to PPA to obtain those fertilizers exclusively.
“Once approval is granted, an approval notification is sent to vendors. Suppliers will then present performance guarantees. Warranties are reviewed and approved by the legal department. Now, contracts are established between COCOBOD and the supplier ”, he explained.
The case was postponed until Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. for continuation.
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