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Farmer Ghana Limited never applied to the Pesticides and Fertilizers Regulatory Division (PFRD) under the Plant Protection Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) to manufacture fertilizers in Ghana.
Dr. Felicia Ansah-Amprofi, the fourth prosecution witness in the case involving Dr. Stephen Opuni and two other individuals, said that Agricult Ghana Limited only requested a certificate to import and distribute Lithovit follar fertilizer in the country.
Dr. Ansah-Amprofi was answering questions in an interrogation led by Mr. Nutifafa Nutsukpui, lawyer for Seidu Agongo, CEO of Agricult Ghana Limited.
The witness said that, as explained to the court, the registration application submitted by Agricult Ghana Limited was for certification to import and distribute fertilizers intended for food crops, not for cocoa.
The lawyer asked the witness if, according to his records, there was any evidence to show that Agricult was registered to manufacture fertilizers, but the witness answered in the negative.
Dr. Ansah-Amprofi, further explaining, according to their records, they expected to see lithovite powder fertilizer on the market shelves, but what the inspectors saw on the shelves was different.
She said “then my lord, whether it was imported or not, it will be difficult for me to answer, but according to the records, we have an entity that cannot bring any fertilizer product into the country without a permit from the PPRSD.”
He said that perhaps the product could have been smuggled or manufactured domestically.
Mr. Nutsukpui asked the witness if there was any evidence in his records to indicate that Mr. Agongo ever submitted any application for the Lithovit follar fertilizer registration in a personal capacity, the witness said the application was submitted by the executive director of Agriculture Ghana Limited.
“The CEO was the one who signed the registration request letter,” he added.
The Attorney asked that the PFRD, having been established by the Fertilizer Law, meant that the Law established the requirements and conditions for the registration of fertilizers and the witness answered affirmatively.
He said that the Fertilizer Law 803 and its regulations provided for how to register fertilizer products.
Mr. Nutsukpui said: “You told the court that the duration of the registration of all fertilizer products is two years and can be renewed for another two years,” the witness answered affirmatively.
He asked Dr. Ansah-Amprofi if there were exemptions to the duration and renewal procedures either by the Fertilizer Law 803 or LI 2194 and the witness said that according to the Laws and their regulations there were no exceptions.
The lawyer asked the witness whether persons or entities interested in the fertilizer trade with respect to cocoa must submit the certification from the Ghana Cocoa Research Institute (CRIG) to the PPRSD, the witness answered affirmatively.
Asked if the requirement that the entities deliver the CRIG report and certificate to the PFRD was a prescription of Law 803 or LI 2194 and the witness said that it was in the procedures and guidelines for registration.
He said that this was the case because before Law 803, the Cacao product registration was carried out by CRIG, due to the nature of Cacao.
He said that with the enactment of the Law, which replaced all registration of fertilizer products, a letter was written to CRIG, requesting CRIG to present all the results of product tests, so that they could issue the certification of cocoa products.
He explained that CRIG was invited to a discussion on the certification of cocoa products, there CRIG informed PPRSD that Cocobod needed to submit an application for the trials.
The lawyer ended his cross-examination of the fourth prosecution witness.
The trial is postponed until October 14, 2020 for the prosecution to present its fifth witness
Dr. Opuni and Mr. Seidu Agongo face 27 charges, including defrauding under false pretenses, deliberately causing financial losses to the state, money laundering, corruption by a public official, and violation of the Public Procurement Law.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are on a self-recognition bond of GHS300,000.00 each.
— GNA
