Dominic Ayine, the Attorney General, has dropped all charges against businessman Seidu Agongo and Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, the former CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
Justice Aboagye Tandoh presided over the Accra High Court on Tuesday, January 28, when this announcement was made.
The AG ordered that all charges against the two accused be dropped, State Attorney Ms. Enam Loh Mensah told the court.
As a result, the State has, per the AG’s directives, filed a notice of withdrawal.
27 counts were pending against Dr. Opuni and Seidu Agongo, including money laundering, corruption by a public official, willfully causing financial loss to the state, and defrauding by false pretenses.
The matter, which has been pending since 2018, concerned the purported purchase of inferior fertilizers for COCOBOD, which caused the state to incur financial losses.
The prosecution claimed that Lithovit Liquid Fertilizer, which was subpar and had not been tested or approved for use, was supplied to COCOBOD under dubious circumstances by Seidu Agongo’s company, Agricult Ghana Limited.
The state allegedly suffered financial losses and the livelihoods of cocoa farmers were put in jeopardy as a result of Dr. Opuni’s alleged facilitation of the deal and circumvention of established procurement procedures.
