Mr Charles Tetteh Dodoo, a Defence witness in the case involving Dr Stephen Opuni, Seidu Agongo and one other, says payment made to Agongo went through all processes like others.
He told an Accra High Court High that during the payment made to Agongo, there was no intervention from anyone to get the Director of Finance to instruct the payment per the request from the supplier.
Mr Dodoo in a cross-examination led by Mr Nutifafa Nutsukpui, Counsel for Agongo, who is the CEO of Agricult Ghana Limited, confirmed that there was proof of delivery of 300,000 liters of Lithovit liquid fertilizer to which payment was released.
Dr Opuni and Mr Agongo are facing 27 charges, including defrauding by false pretences, willfully causing financial loss to the State, money laundering, corruption by a public officer and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.
They have both pleaded not guilty to the charges and are on a GHS300,000.00 self-recognizance bail each.
He said apart from signing the instruction for transfer of payment, he was also involved in ensuring the delivery of the products before payment was done.
The witness said after citing the proof of delivery, one other thing he would look for before payment was to look at the contract of supply and any other special conditions the supplier was required to fulfil.
Asked, whether under his supervision, he did ensure that all these requirements were met before payment issued, the witness answered in the affirmative.
He said all the transfer instructions had been signed by the Deputy Chief Executive and the Director of Finance, adding that the transfer of funds required two signatures, and these were mandated signatures.
There are category ‘A’ signatures involving Chief Executive and three Deputies, while category ‘B’ signatures include the Director of Finance, Deputy Director of Finance and one other manager from the bank.
Transfer from the bank required a signature each from both categories.
Mr Nutsukpui asked the witness whether in buying and paying for Lithovit liquid fertilizer, COCOBOD paid for a worthless product for which it received no value but the former Director of Finance of COCOBOD said “l will treat this with the contempt it deserved.”
Mrs Evelyn Keelson, Chief State Attorney, has commenced cross examination of the witness and will continue in the next adjourned date.
The Court presided over by Justice Clemence Honyenuga, a Justice of the Supreme Court, sitting as an additional High Court Judge, adjourned the matter to April 25, 2022.
GNA