General News of Friday, 3 November 2017
Source: rainbowradioonline.com
Mahama influenced COCOBOD to construct guest house for him - COCOBOD CEO
Former President John Mahama
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has accused the former NDC administration of mismanaging resources at the state institution.
Part of the mismanagement he told journalists, on Wednesday November 1, 2017 was the construction of a guest house at Bole for former President John Dramani Mahama.
The guest house he alleged was constructed to give the former president comfort whenever he pays a visit to the community.
“The penchant to siphon funds through inflated contracts was rampant in the NDC-Opuni administration through ill-conceived construction contracts in the cocoa sector.
These contracts were awarded without proper value for money analysis, bringing into question the motive for the contract for instance, to construct a guest house at Bole in the Northern Region, which was needless at the time it was awarded.
President John Mahama was said to have influenced the awarding to enable him enjoy a comfortable holiday during his visit to his constituency,” he said. Investigation he revealed was underway to ensure that those who created the rot at COCOBOD are dealt with.
Some workers have been interdicted, others have been asked to proceed on leave, he said. The decision he noted was part of the process to investigate the rot at COCOBOD. He was reacting to the recent statement delivered by the Minority on the state of cocoa in Ghana.
The Minority in Parliament accused the government of fixing a low cocoa producer price for the 2016/2017 crop year. The minority argued that, government must utilize the cocoa stabilization fund established by the previous government, to cushion farmers instead of the insensitive approach the COCOBOD intends to use.
But Mr. Aidoo explained that, the claims by the Minority was only concocted and meant to deceive Ghanaians especially farmers. The budgeted figure of GHc 93.5 million for the stabilization fund was not set aside by the NDC as a result of misplaced priorities, he indicated.
