Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, former COCOBOD CEO Peter Osei Amoako, Director of Finance of COCOBOD, said the contract for the procurement of fertilizer for the 2016/17 crop season was terminated by Board.
He said available reports show that 2016/17 contract between COCOBOD and Agricult Ghana Limited was terminated because the product tested at Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana was powder however the product procured was lithovit liquid fertilizer.
The Sixth Prosecution Witness in his further evidence in chief told an Accra High Court hearing the trial of Dr Stephen Opuni, former CEO of COCOBOD and two others, that the product did not go through the two-year minimum testing regime, although the product tested was on seedlings, the product procured was applied on mature cocoa trees.
The prosecution asked the witness to tell the court how payments were made for the 2014/15 purchases and the witness said for the 2014/15 purchases, after the procurement processes, and the contract had been signed between COCOBOD and Agricult Ghana Limited, the Company delivered lithovit liquid fertilizer of 700,000 litres.
He said after that an inspection was carried out and Payments were made in 4 tranches.
He said the first payment was made on July 21, 2015, with a letter of instruction to Ecobank for the transfer of GHS39,032,118 to Stanbic Bank account of Agricult Ghana Limited.
The second payment was made on August 6, 2015, with a letter of instruction to National Investment Bank, GH¢7,169,113 to Agricult’s Stanbic Bank account.
He said the third payment was made on September 17, 2015, with a letter of instruction addressed to Barclays Bank to transfer GH¢2,000,000 to Agricult’s Stanbic Bank account.
The witness said the fourth payment was made on October 9, 2015, with a letter of instruction addressed to GCB Bank for the transfer of ¢25, 275,223 to Agricult’s Stanbic Bank account.
Asked, how the 2015/16 fertilizer purchases were made, the witness said after all the procurement processes had been completed and a contract signed, the supplier delivered 1 million litres of Lithovit liquid fertilizer.
He said the inspection was done and approval granted and payment was made in seven tranches at a value of $26,500,000.He said the first transfer was made on March 18, 2026, from NIB to Agricult’s Stanbic account of GHS30million. He said the second payment was also made on March 18, 2016, from the Standard Chartered Bank to Agricult’s Stanbic Bank account of GHS4million.“The third payment was made on March 18, […]