"I acted in good faith in the Quality Grain Project" - Peprah

The former Minister of Finance, Kwame Peprah, who is facing charges of conspiracy to commit crime and wilfully causing financial loss of over 20 million dollars to the state, on Thursday said he acted in good faith in the Quality Grain Project.

"As a Finance Minister, I was always sourcing funds for the project to sustain it, with due care and also took operational steps to ensure that operational loss did not occur," he said.

Peprah was answering questions during cross-examination by Mr Osafo Sampong, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), at the Fast Track Court, presided over by Mr Kwame Afreh, an Appeal Court Judge sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court Judge.

Other accused persons charged severally with the offence are Ibrahim Adam, a former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Samuel Dapaah, former Chief Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, George Yankey, former Director of the Legal Sector, Private and Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance and Ato Dadzie, former Chief of Staff.

They have all denied the charges and are on self-recognisance bail. Mr Peprah argued that he did not go off his schedule to release funds for the Aveyime Rice Project. He therefore disagreed with the Prosecution that he was reckless in the administration of the project, saying that he was mandated by Cabinet to act accordingly.

Peprah also disagreed with a suggestion by the Prosecution that when Quality Grain came to be established in Ghana, it was penniless.

When the Prosecution told Peprah that Mrs Cotton and her company abandoned the project due to his inability to ensure prudent management of the project and also that it was through his carelessness that the former Vice President sought the assistance of the Chinese Government in the project, he replied that the steps which were taken were rather to ensure that the project did not collapse.

Peprah, who was shown two pages of listed equipment by the Prosecution, which were meant for the project, to enable him to refresh his memory, told the court that he was not an agriculture expert to know, which of them were only suitable for clearing the land for the take off of the project.

He said all that he knew about the equipment was that they were basically needed for land clearing and that it was personnel from the agriculture sector that could have a fair knowledge to answer questions on the matter.

Meanwhile, the attorney for Peprah, Mr Kwaku Baah had said there was the need to invite the former President Jerry John Rawlings to give evidence in the case. Proceedings continue on Friday.