COCOBOD Trial: Few staff appointments were terminated during my tenure - Former CHED Boss

Dr Francis Baah, a former Executive Director of Cocoa Health, and Extension Division CHED of COCOBOD, says during his tenure, a few staff appointments were terminated.

He said these terminations were done because they were taking money from farmers to perform their duties.

Dr Baah, who was a subpoenaed witness for Seidu Agongo, a Businessman, was giving his evidence in a trial involving Dr Stephen Opuni, a former Chief Executive of COCOBOD, led by Benson Nutsukpui.

Dr. Opuni and Seidu Agongo are facing 27 charges, including defrauding by false pretences, wilfully causing financial loss to the State, money laundering, and corruption by a public officer in contravention of the Public Procurement Act.

They have both pleaded not guilty to the charges and are on a GH¢300,000.00 self-recognisance bail each.

He said as the former Executive Director, he had never received any complaint from anyone in the distribution chain that farmers had said lithovit was like water, and they have been drinking it.

“My Lord, no such information was brought to my knowledge,” he added.

He said all input distributions ought to be documented, not only fertilisers.

The former Executive Director said the distribution of the fertilisers and the other inputs, as captured in the document, was not the outcome of a review meeting but the actual quantity that CODAPEC allocated or distributed for the 2014/15 crop season.

He said the report being discussed was the outcome of the field visit, and it was part of the monitoring and evaluation team.

“I do not think they went out on a normal field trip to do any particular product a favour,” he said

He said he was not part of the team that went on the field trip, but he would be surprised if the trip was to do lithovit fertiliser a favour.

He said nobody directed him or any member of his team to tour the field and generate any report to favour lithovit fertiliser.

Case adjourned to Wednesday, 20, 2024