Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni
The assets and bank accounts of the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, have been frozen.
The action follows investigation being conducted into some contracts the ex-COCOBOD boss signed during his tenure and financial irregularities uncovered by the new government.
According to DAILY GUIDE’s sources, the Economic and Organized Crimes Office (EOCO), which has been investigating Dr. Opuni since he was sacked by President Akufo-Addo, froze his assets last week.
Specifically, government intends to probe some supposed fraudulent multi-million dollar contracts he’s believed to have signed before leaving office.
Dr. Opuni was on January 12, 2017 asked to vacate office barely a week after the NPP government was inaugurated.
The former CEO of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) was appointed by former President John Mahama on November 30, 2013 to head COCOBOD.
Since then the sector has never been the same again, with cocoa production alarmingly dropping under his tenure as well as allegations of malfeasance leveled against him.
Currently, issues of alleged corruption in the cocoa sector are being investigated and he can be brought before the court of law if EOCO finds any concrete evidence of financial malfeasance against him.
There have been calls for probe into the administration of the former COCOBOD boss since the New Patriotic Party, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, took office about six weeks ago.
Some staff of COCOBOD alleged that Dr. Opuni awarded contracts without following laid-down regulations and that fertilizers meant for cocoa farmers were also alleged to have been smuggled into neigbouring countries.
The workers claimed Ghana lost more than $10 million because of the alleged dealings of Dr. Opuni.
Top Managers Sacked
About 11 top managers of COCOBOD were also directed by the government to proceed on leave after the dismissal of Dr Opuni.
The directive, which was contained in a letter signed by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto, asked the affected managers to proceed on leave effective January 30, 2017.
The managers included Deputy Chief Executive (Finance & Administration), Deputy Chief Executive (Agronomy & Quality Control), Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) and the Director of Finance.
The rest were Deputy Director of Finance, Deputy Director of Audit, Director of Civil Works and the Procurement Manager.
At the Cocoa Marketing Company Ltd, the Managing Director (MD), Deputy MD, Director, Legal Services, Deputy Director and the Finance Director have reportedly been asked to go home.
By Cephas Larbi
cephrok@yahoo.com