Fatima Ali
MEMBERS OF the National Executive Council (NEC) and farmers of Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative Cocoa Farmers Marketing Union Limited (KKFU) across the country have unanimously voted to severely penalise two top managers of Kuapa Kokoo Limited, a licensed cocoa buying company owned by the KKFU, for allegedly embezzling funds belonging to the company.
Fatima Ali, who is the President of KKFU, doubles as the Chairperson and Acting Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo Limited (KKL), while Abdulai Mahama is the Operations Manager.
The two top managers are alleged to have embezzled the company’s funds running into millions of cedis.
While Ms. Ali has since October 13, 2022, been suspended, Abdulai Mahama has been ordered to proceed on leave to allow for full-scale investigations into their operations.
The punitive action was taken against the two after a complaint of embezzlement of funds was lodged with the Kumasi Central Divisional Police Command.
They have since been arrested and granted a police enquiry bail, pending further investigations.
These were contained in a petition sighted by DAILY GUIDE dated October 31, 2022, and signed by the KKFU Vice President, James Agyekum Kwarteng and three NEC members namely Ernest Boateng, Mary Kosi and Mary Appiah, and addressed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.
They called for his intervention to ensure that cocoa farmers receive justice.
The case of alleged financial malfeasance at the KKL with its headquarters in Kumasi, was uncovered after preliminary investigation conducted by some members of NEC.
The investigation became necessary after KKL ran into financial difficulties in May 2022, rendering it incapable of paying farmers’ commissions and bonuses for the 2021/2022 cocoa season.
According to the correspondence, the distress financial situation, which is unprecedented in the history of the organisation, has led to a lot of agitations capable of bringing chaos into the company.
The decision to suspend Fatima Ali and order Abdulai Mahama to proceed on leave was taken during an extraordinary delegates’ conference held on Thursday, October 13, 2022, at the KKL office in Kumasi attended by NEC members and farmer-delegates from all the districts/societies in the cocoa growing areas in Ghana.
“At the meeting, the farmers were shown some documents in KKL on the construction of depots at Obuasi, Wawase, Nyinahin, Breman Asikuma, which showed that the President of the KKFU, who is also the Board Chairperson and Acting Managing Director of the KKL, and the Operations Manager, could be involved in embezzlement of funds covering millions of cedis,” the statement alleged.
Under the circumstances, while the NEC members of KKFU wrote to the external auditors of KKL to look into the organisation’s books, the police, on the other hand, requested the Auditor General’s Department to audit the accounts of KKL to assist in investigations.
However, even before formal investigations could commence, Fatima Ali and Abdulai Mahama reportedly caused a writ of summons to be issued at a Kumasi High Court to challenge their suspension.
Consequently, the two, according to the petition, have defied the suspension orders and have been reporting to their duties at the office under alleged police escort provided by the Asokwa Divisional Police Command.
They are also said to have succeeded in preventing the external auditors from conducting the audit into their financial records to confirm or disconfirm the allegation of embezzlement levelled against them.
The National Executive Council members of KKFU claim they have evidence that Fatima Ali, by her continued presence at the office, was not only interfering with documents that could be the subject of investigations, but she was also allegedly withdrawing huge sums of money from KKFU’s accounts.
According to the petitioners, they could no longer continue to sit aloof for suspended Fatima Ali to dissipate the farmers’ funds for her selfish interest and are, therefore, appealing to the IGP to bring the Asokwa Police Commander to order and protect the interest of cocoa farmers in Ghana.
But when contacted, Fatima Ali did not personally speak to the allegations except to refer DAILY GUIDE to Nelson Adubofour, Executive Secretary of KKFU.
Nelson Adubofour rubbished the allegations made against the KKFU President and the Operations Manager, stating that there were no audited reports proving that Fatima Ali and Abdulai Mahama had been involved in any embezzlement at the company.
Speaking in a telephone interview, Mr. Adubofour said it was unlawful for the KKFU Vice President and the NEC members to have accused the president without following due process.
According to him, procedurally, the first thing James Agyekum Kwarteng and his team should have done was to have offered the president the opportunity to respond to the allegations per the constitution of KKFU before lodging a complaint with the police.
Adubofour denied that the Asokwa police provided security escort for the KKFU president, explaining that the help of the police was only sought to maintain law and order in and around the office.
FROM James Quansah, Kumasi