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Opuni sued for causing financial loss to the state

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The state has filed a case against Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOBOD for causing financial loss to the state.

The Attorney General, Gloria Akuffu filed a total of 27 charges against Mr Opuni and one Seidu Agongo.

The case will up for hearing at the High Court on Friday, March 23, 2018.

It is not immediately known the details of the case.

It would be recalled that the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, late 2017, hinted that former CEO of the board, Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, would appear before court for the several financial malpractices he is alleged to have perpetuated during his tenure of office.

Mr. Aidoo made the disclosure on Thursday in an interview with an Accra-based radio station – Oman FM.

According to Mr. Aidoo, Dr. Opuni – an appointee of ex-President john Mahama – during his tenure, in some instances, “resolved to cause financial waste” to the state, especially under the free fertilizer initiative of the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

Dr. Opuni is alleged to have conspired with some top officials of COCOBOD to siphon cocoa cash.

Some of the officials who reportedly perpetuated the financial malfeasances have been interdicted, Mr. Aidoo told the media later at a press conference in Accra.

It was in response to some issues raised recently by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in respect of happenings in the cocoa sector.

During the media briefing, Mr Aidoo observed that the previous management of COCOBOD succeeded in ‘looting’ the state several millions of dollars, including a whopping $400 million from the $1.8 billion syndicated loan for the 2016/2017 crop season, which the NDC administration is reported to have expended during the transition period – between December 20, 2016 and January 6, 2017, an amount the erstwhile NDC government has reportedly failed to account for how it was expended.

“The penchant to siphon funds through inflated contracts was rampant in the NDC administration through ill-conceived construction contracts in the cocoa sector,” according to Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo.

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