Two managers of private cocoa buying company before tribunal.

Accra, 28 Jan. '99 -

Two employees of Adwumapa Buyers Limited, a private cocoa buying company, today appeared before an Accra circuit tribunal charged with conspiracy to steal and stealing 36 million cedis belonging to their employers. Aboagye Mensah, area manager, and Nana Kofi Karikari, district manager of the company, pleaded not guilty to both charges and each of them was granted 15 million cedis bail to reappear on February 23. Police Inspector Emmanuel Dunyo told the tribunal during the last major cocoa season from October 1997 and April, 1998, the accused conspired and informed the headquarters of the company in Accra that they had purchased a large stock of cocoa in the Nyinahin district of Ashanti region. As a result, the company deposited 288 million cedis at the Ghana Commercial Bank, at Nkawie, to be used as payment to the cocoa farmers involved. The accused, the prosecution said, circumvented the company's inspecting unit and instructed Anthony Mensah Bonsu, a cocoa buyer at Bayerebon number three society to issue cheques covering 20.5 million cedis to ghost cocoa farmers. They also asked Stephen Aboagye, a cocoa clerk at Bredi society to issue cheques covering 10.2 million cedis to non-existing farmers. The prosecution said the accused later made a report of stealing against Mensah and Aboagye who are on the run.