The Director of Research at Ghana COCOBOD, Dr Francis Baah, yesterday told the Accra High Court that no cocoa farmer drank lithovit fertiliser as a substitute for water.
He was giving testimony in the ongoing trial of Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOBOD, and Mr Seidu Agongo, the Managing Director of Agricult Ghana Limited.
They are being prosecuted for causing financial loss of G H¢271.3 million to the state in a fertiliser deal.
Dr Baah was the Executive Director of Cocoa Health Extension Division (CHED), under whose tenure lithovit was procured for use on mature cocoa leaves.
He told the court presided over by Justice Aboagye Tandoh that there was no such information of a cocoa farmer drinking lithovit like water.
The prosecution had told the court that some farmers drank lithovit fertiliser in place of water.
But, the witness, in answering questions under cross examination, conducted by Benson Nutsukpui, told the court that he (witness) would have brought it to the attention of the court if it was reported that a farmer drank lithovit.
The COCOBOD trial had dragged on for more than six years. Justice Clement Jackson Honyenugah, a retired Supreme Court Judge, was the first trial judge until he went on retirement.
The docket was later assigned to Justice Gyimah Boadi, who at the outset decided to conduct fresh trial because of what he considered as “suspicions and allegations” from the parties concerned.
Justice Boadi was transferred and the case was assigned to Justice Aboagye Tandoh.
Before then, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godred Yeboah Dame, appealed the decision of Justice Boadi, to conduct fresh trial and later in a ruling, a three-member panel of judges overturned the decision to start the trial afresh.
In March 2018, the Attorney-General charged Dr Opuni and Agongo with 27 counts for allegedly engaging in illegalities that caused financial loss of GH¢271.3 million to the state, and led to the distribution of sub-standard fertiliser to cocoa farmers.
Agongo is alleged to have used fraudulent means to sell sub-standard fertiliser to COCOBOD for onward distribution to cocoa farmers, while Dr Opuni is accused of facilitating the act by not allowing Agongo’s products to be tested and certified, as required by law.
The two accused persons have pleaded not guilty to all the 27 charges and are on GH¢300,000 bail each.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
