Open you your defence – Court orders Opuni

Former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Dr Stephen Opuni and two others have been ordered by the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Clemence Jackson Honyernugah to open their defence in the COCOBOD trial.

Mr Opuni had filed a submission of no case in the trial on Thursday, April 29.

He told the court that the state has failed to prove that he committed the offence for which he has been charged for causing financial loss to the state.

But the court said on Friday, May 7 that the prosecution succeeded in proving all the charges against the accused persons.

Dr Opuni has therefore been ordered to mount his defence on May 17, 2021.

Dr Opuni Agongo was charged for causing financial loss to the state. He has been slapped with twenty-seven charges.

Dr Opuni was sued together with one Seidu Agongo, and Agricult Ghana Limited, beneficiaries of a supposed fraudulent contract from COCOBOB worth Forty-Three Million One Hundred and Twenty Thousand (GH¢43, 120,000). They all pleaded not guilty to the charges and are each on a GH¢300,000 self-recognizance bail.