Cocobod refutes corruption, money laundering allegation in Agri-Plus deal
The Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) has strongly denied corruption, nepotism and money laundering allegations in the Agri-Plus deal in which it sole-source a contract for the supply of insecticides.
In a press release signed by its Head of Public Affairs, Fiifi Boafo, Cocobod maintained that the accusations were completely baseless and untrue.
The company’s reaction come after some documents purported to have come from the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) suggested Cocobod had erred in awarding the contract to Agri-Plus Horizon Farm Limited.
The report suggested the contract was awarded to the company based on nepotism, corruption and money laundering.
Agri-Plus Horizon Farm Limited was awarded a contract for the supply of 75,000 litres of Transform Akate Insecticide at a price of $103.5 per litre amounting to a total of $7,762,500.00.
The contract was said to be a sole-sourced one to the company through the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).
Agri-Plus Horizon Farm Limited is said to have also sub-contracted the contract at $80.80357 to Aedis Holding Limited (AEDIS), a company reportedly owned by one Joseph Seth Aidoo Jnr.
There are allegations that Joseph Seth Aidoo Jnr is the son of the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr Joseph Aidoo.
But Cocobod has denied all the allegation in the release dated November 17, 2020, which reads:
“We wish to state that the decision to sole source insecticides and other chemicals for COCOBOD operations is based on COCOBOD’s need for specific purposes.
“COCOBOD only procures insecticides or chemicals that have been tested and certified by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG).
“In the case of Transform Akate Insecticide mentioned in the document, Agriplus Horizon Farms Limited is the company that holds the CRIG certificate for the product,” excerpts of the statement read.
Read details of the press release below