The Minority in Parliament has said it is surprised at what it describes as a desperate attempt by government to pin down former CEO of COCOBOD, Dr Stephen Opuni.
The Attorney General and Minister for Justice Gloria Akuffo has charged former Chief Executive Officer of Cocobod, Dr. Stephen Opuni for causing financial loss to the state.
The state has proferred 27 charges against the former COCOBOD CEO as well as the Chairman of Zeera Group, Seidu Agongo. The two are said to have benefited from a fraudulent contract worth GHC43,120,000. They are scheduled to appear at the High Court in Accra on Friday, 23rd March 2018 for trial.
Dr. Opuni had his assets including his accounts, frozen by the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO), in February 2017.
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.
But the Ranking Member on the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, Inusah Fuseini has said from all the accounts it is clear that it appears to the Minority that this is a desperate attempt by the NPP administration to hold Dr Opuni accountable for his administration in ways that impute criminal motives to everything he did.
“The fact is that even before the chat sheet was filed there’d been a consistent attempt to paint Opuni as a dangerous criminal who superintended over the affairs of COCOBOD, To be able to give meaning to the various accusations against brought against Opuni for his stewardship they’ve come up with these charges.”
