The Committee recommended the withdrawal of the Agricult – Témoin certificate

General News on Thursday, May 23, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-05-23

The third Prosecution witness in the trial involving Dr. Stephen Opuni and another, stated that the COCOBOD Investigation and Discipline Committee had recommended the withdrawal of the certificate issued to Agricult Ghana Limited in order to provide fertilizer to the society.

Dr. Yaw Adu-Ampomah said that the four-member committee also suggested that the contract awarded to the company for the supply of one million liters of lithovit fertilizer be repealed.

Dr. Adu-Ampomah, Special Advisor for Cocoa Affairs to the Minister of Agriculture, continued his testimony on Wednesday, as it was headed by Ms. Evelyn Keelson, District Attorney.

He added that the committee had also recommended ending the appointment of Mr. A. Afrifa, former head of the soil sciences division of the Ghana Cocoa Research Institute (CRIG).

He said the behavior of former COCOBOD chief executive, Dr. Stephen Opuni, and that of Mr. Afrifa, as well as Mr. Seidu Agongo, should be reported to the investigative agencies of the 39; State for further investigation.

"The committee also discovered that, by the end of 2016, COCOBOD had awarded Agricult a contract for the supply of one million liters of lithovit liquid fertilizer for use during the 2017 crop year," she said. he added.

The witness stated that the management of COCOBOD in October 2017 constituted an investigation and disciplinary committee to investigate CRIG anomalies in agrochemical tests and to make recommendations.

He said that the Committee, after questioning all the scientists involved in the tests, deliberated on their answers, reviewed the safety data sheet (MSDS), their queries and their answers, came to some conclusions.

First, the witness stated that the report covering the test of lithovit fertilizer had been manufactured by Mr Afrifa without the knowledge of the other two scientists, MJH Dogbatse and Dr Alfred Arthur, and that He had never worked on lithovit fertilizer.

Dr. Adu-Ampomah, former Deputy Director General for Agronomy and Quality Control at COCOBOD, said that the lithovit fertilizer submitted by Agricult and tested by Dr. Arthur was powdery and that it was not safe to use. he was working on cocoa plants that were two months old and not on ripe cocoa.

The former Executive Director of CRIG also stated that, as part of the Committee's findings, he had learned that the lithovit fertilizer that Agricult had submitted for testing was powdery and not liquid.

"The conclusion of the report that a lithovit fertilizer can be applied to mature cocoa has no scientific basis and it is not true that a lithovit fertilizer has been tested on mature cocoa", he added.

He added that the purchase of 700,000 liters of lithovit fertilizer intended to be applied on mature cocoa to increase yield was unfounded.

He pointed out that the lithovit fertilizers purchased were substandard, according to reports from the Ghana Standard Authority and the Department of Chemistry of the University of Ghana submitted to the Committee.

Asked about what happened after the committee's deliberation, the witness replied that he had written a report containing the findings and conclusions, which had subsequently been submitted to COCOBOD management and signed by the four parties. members of the committee.

At this point, the prosecution has presented the report of the committee in evidence through the intermediary of the witness without objection.

During the cross-examination of Mr. Samuel Cudjoe, the counsel for Dr. Stephen Opuni asked the witness to give the names of the Dutch and American NGOs with whom he was previously working, but the witness only named him as the witness. Dutch NGO Solidaridad.

The board said, "Do you badume that you do not know the names of the American NGO that you worked with and that the witness said," there are many of them and I can not remember. "

Mr. Cudjoe suggested to the witness that if he worked with the NGOs, he should be able to quote the names, but Mr. Adu-Ampomah indicated that he had mentioned one, that of the Dutch company, and could mention more.

Dr. Opuni and Mr. Agongo face 27 charges including fraud under false pretenses, financial losses to the state, money laundering, bribery and corruption. an official and violation of the law on public procurement.

They both pleaded not guilty and are released on bail of 300,000 GHAC.

The case was postponed until Tuesday, May 28 for further cross-examination.