Former Municipal Chief Executive for Bolgatanga, Rex Asanga, has strongly refuted claims made by Maxwell Aburiya, the Upper East Regional Campaign Coordinator for Dr. Bryan Acheampong, that he had knowledge of fertilizer being smuggled from Sumbrungu to Kandiga ahead of the 2024 elections.
In a statement issued on Friday, Mr. Asanga described the allegations as “deliberate misinformation” and a distortion of facts intended to lend credibility to the recent comments by Dr. Acheampong that some former MMDCEs hoarded and attempted to smuggle fertilizers meant for farmers affected by the 2024 dry spell.
Mr. Aburiya had alleged during a press conference that some individuals intercepted a motor king carrying fertilizer from Sumbrungu to Kandiga and that Mr. Asanga was informed of the incident, implying it was part of the fertilizer diversion scandal. But the former Bolgatanga MCE insists that the incident had nothing to do with the Dry Spell Relief Project fertilizers, clarifying that it involved a small number of bags under the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme, which had already been distributed months before the dry spell intervention began.
“Let me make it very clear that Maxwell is either deliberately trying to mislead the public or is refusing to understand so simple a matter,” Mr. Asanga stated.
According to him, while attending a workshop in Koforidua, he received a call at night informing him that some individuals were transporting fertilizer from Bolgatanga to Kandiga. He instructed that the fertilizer be impounded and returned to the warehouse in Bolgatanga, and immediately contacted the Municipal Director of Agriculture, Madam Lantana, to follow up on the matter.
Mr. Asanga explained that only nine bags of fertilizer were involved, and the individuals transporting them were genuine farmers from Kandiga who had registered under the PFJ programme within the Bolgatanga Municipality because their farms fell within the district’s boundaries.
“The farmers who were intercepted were not smugglers. They had legitimately registered with one of our extension officers, who happens to be from Kandiga and only sought to help his relatives access fertilizer for their farms,” he explained.
He added that the Department of Agriculture investigated the issue, and disciplinary action was subsequently taken against the extension officer involved for procedural breaches, even though the fertilizer itself was not illegally obtained.
Mr. Asanga further stressed that the fertilizer in question was distributed in June and July 2024, months before the Dry Spell Relief consignment that became the subject of controversy. He emphasized that Mr. Aburiya’s attempt to link the incident to the later distribution “is not only inaccurate but mischievous.”
“So the fertilizer was not being smuggled as claimed by Mr. Aburiya, and was not part of the Dry Spell consignment but part of the PFJ programme which came earlier. The Municipal Director of Agriculture can confirm this story,” Mr. Asanga said.
The former MCE’s response follows a heated exchange between the Bryan Acheampong Campaign Team and a group of former MMDCEs in the Upper East Region over allegations that some district officials hoarded fertilizers meant for farmers hit by drought in 2024.
Mr. Asanga concluded by urging the public to disregard what he described as “false narratives” and called on political actors to focus on truth and accountability rather than propaganda and blame games.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Bolgatanga
