Graphic Online
BY: Justice Agbenorsi
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The seventh prosecution witness in the trial of Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, the former Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), and businessman Mr Seidu Agongo, has testified that one of two farmers interrogated by the police as part of investigations described the lithovit fertiliser as “good as water”.
The form and quality of the lithovit fertiliser has become a major contention in the trial of Mr Opuni and Mr Agongo, who were dragged to court on 27 charges for allegedly engaging in illegalities in a series of fertiliser transactions, which the Attorney-General says caused a financial loss of GH¢271.3 million to the state.
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A GH¢25,000 bribe allegedly paid by businessman, Seidu Agongo, to Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), became the focus of the trial of the two at the Accra High Court last Thursday.
The investigator, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Prempeh Mercer, testified that Agongo, in his statement to the police, admitted giving the money to Dr Opuni to help him (Opuni) cater for the needy.
Chief Inspector Mercer, who is the seventh prosecution witness, was answering questions during cross examination by lawyer for Dr Opuni, Mr Samuel Cudjoe.
Counsel wanted the witness to agree with him that Dr Opuni never received any GH¢25,000 from Agongo.
Opuni Trial: COCOBOD bought $64.5m fertiliser from Agricult; Witness
The Law Courts Complex in Accra
The seventh prosecution witness (PW7), Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Prempeh Mercer, has told an Accra High that Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), between 2014 and 2016, procured fertiliser from Agricult Ghana Limited worth US$64.5 million.
The witness testified that COCOBOD made these procurement when the product, Lithovit Foliar Fertiliser, had not fully met the testing requirement of the Cocoa Research Institute (CRIG).
According to him, the Board acted on the instruction of its then Chief Executive Officer, Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, who ordered CRIG to issue a certificate to Agricult Ghana Limited, despite testing Lithovit Foliar Fertiliser for just six months.