While the prosecution have alleged that the purchase of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser for Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) did not give the country any value for money, a retired officer of the board says the statement is false.

Samuel Tsatsu Adigreh, a retired officer of the Cocoa Extension Division (CHED), a unit COCOBOD, said the controversial Lithovit liquid fertiliser is rather worthy of praise.

Testifying as the fifth defence witness (DW5) in the trial of Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni and the suppliers of the Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser, Seidu Agongo and Agricult Ghana Limited, said the supposed worthless liquid fertiliser yield a worthy results for cocoa farmers

The witness told the Criminal High Court presided over by a Supreme Court Justice, Clemence Honyenuga that “I observed some of the farms that were sprayed with Lithovit and to be honest, all the cocoa farms  had flashy leaves and produced a lot of flowers,  chellars, pods and farmers and the beneficiary farmers all were praising the Lithovit for efficient results.

“And before I left finally from Assin Fosu, our management team came around April 2015 for farm visits and the results we saw were all worthy of praise.”

This was after Samuel Codjoe, counsel for Dr Opuni, posed a question to  Mr Adigreh while leading him to give his evidence in chief on Monday.

According to the witness, he observed that farms sprayed with Lithovit liquid fertiliser, the leaves were flashy, some started producing chellars and the general outlook of the farms were bright, especially, younger farms from four to 16 years.

He added that a management team from COCOBOD head office visited farms sprayed with Lithovit liquid fertiliser in 2015 and they gave an impressive report about their findings.

Mr  Adigreh said he is able to make the reference because he chanced on the team’s report when he was posted from Assin Fosu in the Central region Adabokrom in the Western region in 2015.

He indicated that the report also focused on other issues including attacks by caterpillars on other farms in other regions, conditions of hybrid nursery sites and some challenges facing workers. 

DW5 said he holds a certificate in Agriculture from kwadaso Agriculture College in 1988, and later proceeded to acquire Higher National Diploma in Agriculture from the University of Ghana in 2010.

He has worked as the technical officer at Tafi and Nyagbo kume in the Hohoe District from 1989 to 1992 under the Ministry of Agriculture.

He was later appointed to the Cocoa Service Division at the Gyeasikan District as a Senior technical assistant from 1992 to 2006.

Mr Adigreh was reassigned to Assin Fosu as chief technical assistant at the Cocoa Soil Shoot Virus Control Division under COCOBOD from 2006 to 2015.

Dr Opuni and the two others are facing 27 criminal charges including money laundering, corruption by public officer and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.

The case has been adjourned to today Wednesday June 29, 2022.