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COCOBOD, Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni has been applauded by many, including lawyers, for his bold decision not to mount the witness box.
Court-watchers who have been following his trial together with two others observed that the exculpatory evidence expertly discharged by the 11 witnesses Dr. Opuni called, does not warrant any further testimony by the first accused.
The 11 witnesses included farmers who applied lithovit foliar fertilizer on their cocoa farms, former and current senior technical and management staff of COCOBOD who actively participated in the certification, procurement, payment as well as field observation of the performance of lithovit fertilizer: a product the court was told that farmers described it as “messiah” and “saviour’ because it worked “magic” on their farms.
Dr. Stephen Opuni, businessman Seidu Agongo and Agricult Ghana Ltd are currently facing combined 24 charges: Abetment of crime, defrauding by false pretence, contravention of the Public Procurement Act, willfully causing financial loss to the state, manufacturing fertilizer without registration, selling misbranded fertilizer and selling adulterated fertilizer, Corruption by public officer. Seidu Agongo and Agricult Ghana Ltd were however acquitted on three counts of money laundering they were charged with.
The three have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are on a GH¢300,000.00 self-recognizance bail each.
Counsel for Dr. Opuni, lawyer Samuel Codjoe on February 12, stunned the High Court in Accra when he announced that his client has taken the decision to exercise his right under article 19 (10) of the 1992 constitution.
“The first accused is satisfied with the evidence of his witnesses and the evidence before the court and will not give evidence personally,” counsel told the court.
The state closed it case in March 2021 after calling seven witnesses, but not a single one of them was a farmer with a firsthand experience on the efficacy or otherwise of lithovit foliar fertilizer, which is at the centre of the trial.
A close attempt by the state to get farmers to toe the narrative that lithovit is a worthless fertilizer backfired. One of the two farmers the state was able to persuade to give statements at EOCO, Nana Obeng Akrofi, who happens to be a board member of COCOBOD, said he harvested just two extra cocoa bags after he applied the product on his farm, whilst the other farmer Emmanuel Obeng said he had bumper harvest when he applied lithovit.
Interestingly, Dr. Opuni called three farmers out of his 11 witnesses, including a one-time National Best Farmer, who testified about the efficacy of lithovit fertilizer when they applied it on their farms, discrediting claims that the fertilizer was worthless, let alone causing financial loss to the state.
The former COCOBOD boss officially closed his case on February 12, 2024.
A summary of ‘satisfactory’ evidence
The First defence witness was a former Director of Finance at COCOBOD, Mr. Charles Tetteh Dodoo. Then Assin Fosu-based and 2013 National Most Promising Young Cocoa Farmer Samuel Torbi, and Amo Amankwaa a cocoa farmer from Berekum as the Second and Third witnesses respectively. A former Board Chairman of COCOBOD Ambassador Daniel Ohene Agyekum was the Fourth witness followed by a retired District Cocoa Officer of CHED Samuel Adigler as the Fifth witness. Then the 2017 National Best Farmer Philip Baffour Kweku Agyemang.
The Seventh defence witness was Peter Okyere Boateng who retired from COCOBOD in 2017 as the Deputy Executive Director of Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of COCOBOD. The former Executive Director of Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) Dr. Gilbert Anim Kwapong was the Eighth witness. He was followed by a banker Reginald Adukwa, Dr. Richard Adu-Acheampong the current Deputy Executive Director at CRIG, and Samuel Amponsah a former Deputy Executive Director of CHED as the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh witnesses respectively.
Charles Tetteh Dodoo
A former Director of Finance at COCOBOD, Mr. Charles Tetteh Dodoo, debunked claims by the prosecution that due process was not followed in the purchase of Lithovit fertilizer.
“We have no controversy in either the pricing, form or the substance”, he stressed. “Contracts for the supply of lithovit followed the processes and procedures like all other contracts… My Lord, I want to add that nothing untoward had been done on the contracts for the supply of Lithovit.”
Mr. Dodoo who authorized payment to Agricult Ghana Limited for the supply of various quantities of Lithovit Foliar Fertiliser, told the court that none of the payments made by COCOBOD was irregular, abnormal or inappropriate.
“As Director of Finance, when the payments were being made for the fertilizer I was in charge of the payments. The payment goes through a rigorous process. All the payments will be forwarded to the Audit Department. Much as all letters relating to the purchase of the fertilizers, copies will be given, the audit will go through the origin of the letters – from the procurement letters through to the PPA letters to the entity tender committee – before the audit manager will write letters giving clearance to the items received to be paid for.”
He revealed that both the board of directors and the Entity Tender Committee (ETC) of COCOBOD gave management their approval to purchase Lithovit fertilizer in a liquid state before the Procurement Unit, under his supervision, wrote the procurement contracts for the signature of the Chief Executive in line with the normal procedure at COCOBOD.
He therefore described as “an affront to the members of the ETC”, claims by the CID investigator in the trial, Chief Inspector Thomas Prempeh Mercer, that the entity tender committee and board of directors did not know what they were doing when they approved the procurement of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser.
Under cross-examination by Chief Sate Attorney, Evelyn Keelson, Mr. Dodoo asserted that based on information available to him and what transpired at COCOBOD, the charges levelled against Dr. Opuni “have been concocted”.
He asserted that “it will be preposterous for anyone to think that the chief executive writes letters.”
Prosecution went further to put to him that, “all the letters signed by A1 were authored by him”, but the witness retorted, “My Lord this assertion is absurd. As a governance expert, I know that no chief executive heading a company of COCOBOD’s stature will be wasting his time writing procurement letters or any other letter. My lord I must say that their own speeches on occasions are written for them let alone letters of a formal nature.”
The witness who also served on the board of COCOBOD for 8 years and its Entity Tender Committee asked the court to “treat with the contempt that it deserves”, claims that lithovit was a worthless product.
He also revealed that all the cover letters to PPA between 2014 and 2016, when COCOBOD bought lithovit also listed other fertilizers. He therefore wondered why even though all the products went through the same procurement processes with same dates, the state would single out lithovit and claimed that COCOBOD breached the Procurement Act.
Moreover, on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 Dr. Yaw Adu-Ampomah, who is a former Deputy CEO in charge of Agronomy and Quality Control at COCOBOD, and the Third Prosecution Witness, maintained that every product that goes through the procurement process of COCOBOD means it has been validly procured.
Counsel for Seidu Agongo in cross examining him asked, “Will I be right to say any one in your position and CEO of Ghana Cocoa Board has done no wrong to rely on CRIG certification to award contract on fertilizers and agrochemicals.”
Dr. Adu-Ampomah, who signed over 20 contracts on behalf of COCOBOD to purchase agrochemicals including fertilizers, answered “My Lord ideally yes”.
The lawyer then told him, “Please tell the court every product that goes through COCOBOD procurement process would mean that they have been validly procured”. Dr. Adu-Ampomah responded, “Yes my Lord”.
Board Chairman Amb. Ohene Agyekum
Ambassador Daniel Ohene Agyekum, the board chairman of COCOBOD under whose tenure Lithovit was bought, collaborated the evidence of Mr. Charles Dodoo so far as procurement was concerned.
As the Fourth Defence Witness, the board chairman who once headed the entity tender committee, said Chief Insp. Prempeh’s evidence on the ETC and board, “is tantamount to insulting the intelligence of the members of the ETC. We knew what we were about. My lord with all due respect we were not a bunch of ignoramuses. Even if we were not experts, we were literate enough, knowledgeable enough and intelligent enough to read or appreciate the distinction between solid material and a liquid. And in this particular case, the technical presentation by the experts from CRIG, we clearly understood both the liquid and solid fertilisers that we approved.”
He emphasized that it would be “absolutely impossible” for Dr. Opuni, just an individual who never attended any of the entity tender committee’s meetings that approved lithovit, to influence the board or the tender committee to buy any chemical.
“My lord I cannot imagine; it is inconceivable that any particular individual can or could rig or influence the choice or decision to award a contract in favour of a particular person. It is simply impossible and it could not happen under my watch or during my tenure as chairman.”
He pointed out, “The first accused during my tenure in office, did not, certainly not, perpetuate any fraud. As the chief executive of management of COCOBOD and with my little knowledge of corporate responsibility, the chief executive, whatever he did was consistent with the policies of the board.”
He further told the court, “As the board chairman, I can state on authority that the fertiliser which was purchased from Agricult went through the proper procedure as pertains during my term.”
Speaking via a video link from Kumasi, the former board chairman told the High Court:
“I state further that 1st Accused was also not the person who grants or awards contracts. I am aware from my position as the Board Chairman that it is the management of COCOBOD which awards contracts after laid down procedures with respect to the purchase of fertilizers have been followed.”
“I have to add that in my dual capacity as the chairman of the ETC and also as a Board Chairman, I know as a fact that it is the management of COCOBOD which awarded contracts for all fertilizers including Lithovit liquid fertilizer during my tenure on the Board of COCOBOD and not the Chief Executive (Dr. Opuni).”
CRIG Boss Dr. Gilbert Anim Kwapong
Former Executive Director of Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), Dr. Anim Kwapong who is the Eighth Defence Witness retired from COCOBOD on 11th December 2022 as the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, CODAPEC/HiTECH of CHED. He started off his evidence by disputing some of the attributions made to him in the Adu-Ampomah committee report when he saw the report for the first time and also read portions of it in court. The report compiled in 2017 largely formed the basis for the prosecution.
He told the court under cross examination, “we have always known the product as lithovit and it has always been a liquid product”.
He also justified why he renewed the certificate for the product, paving way for COCOBOD to purchase it.
“There was no adverse mention or anything or report in the CODAPEC Evaluation Report [against lithovit] so I went ahead and signed [the renewal certificate],” Dr. Anim Kwapong said.
He also gave a vivid account of processes that led to the renewal of certificate for lithovit liquid fertilizer by a team of experienced scientists at CRIG.
“The Committee for Testing Chemicals and Machines (CTCM) will make sure that the requisite payment would have been made. They provided to me a field report, this field report contains information on field studies they have carried out on all agrochemicals and machines used in the previous years. During the period when certificate had been issued and chemicals had actively been used in the field.
“So the committee collects information about the efficacy of the product, farmers’ reactions and comments about the product they have used. They also pick samples of the product on the market and from other sources for testing at CRIG. They also check that the labels on the product conform to the information that was originally provided to the scientists.”
He further stated that “nobody ever attempted” to influence him in signing and renewing certificates for agrochemicals and machines.
He also recalled the suspension of a CRIG soil scientist, Dr. Alfred Arthur, who is the Second Prosecution Witness, for forging a report which misled his superior to sign the certificate for Cocoa Nti granular fertilizer. The certificate was later withdrawn based a recommendation by an adhoc committee.
“My lord the scientist [Dr. Alfred Arthur] has no credibility from my point of view,” he told Chief State Attorney, Evelyn Keelson under cross examination.
The same Dr. Alfred Arthur is the scientist who tested lithovit fertilizer which is at the centre of the trial.
Dr. Anim Kwapong also adduced evidence to discredit the long-held assertion by the prosecution that fertilizers are supposed to be tested for at least three years. It was revealed in court that some fertilizers like Cocoasett Fertilizer were even tested for just one year.
Peter Okyere Boateng
Mr. Peter Okyere Boateng who is the Seventh Prosecution Witness retired from COCOBOD as the Deputy Executive Director of Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) in 2017.
He testified to seeing, for himself, how farms that applied the lithovit were doing well compared to others that used different fertilizers, explaining why farmers lobbied him for lithovit fertilizer.
“My Lord and the team that visited the farms observed a very marked difference in terms of yields and therefore volumes of pods on the cocoa trees and it was very clear that the farms that had been sprayed with the Lithovit liquid fertilizer had far outperformed the other farms that had been applied with the granular fertilizers.”
Mr. Okyere Boateng who was in charge of Monitory and Evaluation explained, “My Lord that is exactly the reason they gave me for lobbying for more of the lithovit fertilizer. In fact my Lord, they told me that the performance of the lithovit that their farmers applied had performed magic in the sense that the farms had produced beyond imagination.”
He also said throughout his stay at CHED, the Division never received any complaint from the farmers or his line managers about lithovit fertilizer.
Responding to the allegation that some farmers drank lithovit on their farms, Mr. Okyere Boateng was emphatic, “I wouldn’t expect any farmer who has gone through CHED extension education to even taste any agrochemical let alone drinking it.
“My Lord, let me add that the farmers have been trained to look at every agrochemical as a potential poison irrespective of the actual toxicity level or cidal effect, that is the killing ability.”
He stressed, “My Lord I never received any form of complaint from the farmers that I met on the farms, rather it was all commendations and singing of praises of the efficacy of the fertilizer.”
National Best Farmer Baffour Agyemang
The 2017 National Best Farmer, Philip Baffour Kweku Agyemang is the Sixth Defence Witness who kept singing the praise of Lithovit Foliar Fertiliser in court, insisting that he can personally attest to the efficacy of Lithovit.
With a totaling of 147 acres of cocoa farms in the Bono Region, the witness recalled: “When you look at the cocoa on the 3 farms that I applied the lithovit liquid fertiliser on, the Cocoa trees had more yield. Also, I used to pass through other farms and the farmers told me they also have lots of yield from their cocoa trees and when I enquired, though he could not tell the exact fertilizer, he mentioned the company producing the lithovit liquid fertiliser as Agricult.”
He also said in his evidence that, “Some time after, the CHED officer who gave me the Lithovit liquid fertilizer came to see the yield of my 3 farms and also asked how I had that much and I explained to him it was as a result of the Lithovit liquid fertilizer he gave me and its application which I followed.”
The National Best Farmer told the court on Monday, July 18, that he can personally attest to the efficacy of Lithovit because he has used the fertilizer on his farms before.
Counsel for Seidu Agongo told the witness the fact that the state brought the accused persons to court to be punished for causing financial loss to the state for supplying the same Lithovit liquid fertiliser that he used, and asked him what he makes of that.
He replied, “My Lord it will be really painful to we the farmers to hear such a thing because the Lithovit fertiliser we used was of immense benefit to we the farmers.”
Dr. Richard Adu-Acheampong
The current Deputy Executive Director of CRIG in charge of Cocoa and Cola, Dr. Richard Adu-Acheampong, mounted the box as the Tenth Defence Witness, exposing the wrongdoing of First Prosecution Witness Dr. F.M Amoah. He noted that Dr. F.M Amoah signed the first certificate for lithovit without getting authorization from COCOBOD’s management nor the CTCM of CRIG.
CRIG’s official record indicates that a letter that was dated 21st January 2014 from Dr. Opuni in his capacity as the COCOBOD Chief Executive to Agricult, and copied to CRIG to communicate COCOBOD’s approval for CRIG to consider issuing certificate on lithovit foliar fertilizer, was received and stamped by CRIG on January 29, 2014.
But CRIG’s copy of the letter, which was hitherto hidden from the court but eventually tendered through Dr. Adu-Acheampong, who was subpoenaed by counsel for Dr. Opuni, revealed that Dr. F.M. Amoah was advised by the CTCM against issuing the certificate until a request was made by Agricult, which was the norm.
However, unknowing to members of the Committee for Testing Chemicals and Machines (CTCM) clothed with the power to authorize the executive director of CRIG to sign any certificate for a product, Dr. F.M. Amoah had already signed the certificate for Lithovit foliar fertilizer even before he asked the team of scientists at CTCM to work on it.
The court presided over by Justice Aboagye Tandoh heard that Dr. F.M. Amoah signed the certificate on 22nd January 2014, meanwhile the letter from COCOBOD addressed to CRIG was received and stamped at CRIG on 29th January 2014.
Dr. Richard Adu-Acheampong giving his evidence in chief was asked to take the court through CRIG’s copy of the letter, now marked exhibit 131.
“The first minute is from the executive director [Dr. F.M. Amoah] to the chairman of the CTCM, it reads ‘referred for your information and necessary action’, this was on the 29th of January 2014,” he told the court.
He added, “The second minute which is minute numbered three was addressed to me and it reads, ‘please, provide certificate if requested for by Agricult company limited’. This was on the 30th of January 2014. The letter got to me on the same day.”
“After this letter got to you did anything happen”, lawyer Samuel Codjoe, lead counsel for Dr. Opuni, asked the 10th defence witness.
Dr. Adu-Acheampong replied, “Yes my Lord, I checked if there was a request from the company for the certificate, and there was no request. So I minuted the letter back to the chairman. My Lord this is what I wrote, ‘an official request for a certificate on lithovit has not been received from Agricult company limited. Let’s wait until they have made a request to the executive director’. I signed on the same day 30th of January 2014. My Lord this is the fourth numbered minute from me to the chairman of the CTCM. The next minute which is minute numbered five, was from the chairman to the executive director.”
The witness further pointed out, “Minute fives [from the chairman of CTCM] states, ‘we are awaiting the formal request from Agricult company limited to issue the certificate please’. This was dated 31st of March 2014.”
When the letter was sent back to Dr. F.M. Amoah with the minuted response from the chairman of the CTCM, Mr. A. Y. Akrofi, Dr. F.M. Amoah on 2nd April 2014 indicated on the letter again that “minute five noted. No objection please”.
“And from the minute what Dr. F.M. Amoah did not object to was that, if the company request to the CTCM you will issue the certificate,” Counsel for Seidu Agongo, lawyer Benson Nutsukpui asked the witness, to which he responded, “Yes my Lord”.
Banker Reginald Adukwa
A banker with Standard Chartered Bank, Reginald Adukwa, formerly of ECOBANK, confirmed to the court that the GH¢25,000 deposited into Dr. Opuni’s account by Seidu Agongo was Dr. Opuni’s own money.
“I believe the money would be for Dr. Opuni, as the purpose for which the money is used for was for his credit card payment,” he said.
The Ninth Defence Witness who was Dr. Opuni’s relationship manager at ECOBANK explained to the court that Dr. Opuni had earlier called him that he was on his way to the bank to deposit the said amount as he usually does.
“Yes, so he subsequently called that he is unable to bring the money himself, he will send someone to bring the money to me to deposit in the bank. He had mentioned the name, but I do not recall the name only that I recalled it was a northern name. So he said he will give my number to the fellow to call me when he gets to the bank. So I received a call from a gentleman saying that Dr. Opuni has sent him to deposit some money. I had explained that I was busy at that time, so he had to wait for me to come down at a point to assist him. I delayed a bit and I went downstairs and called the number which had previously called me and the person explained that he had done the deposit and had left because I delayed. So I then went to check on the account to confirm the deposit and went ahead to call the client, in this case Dr. Opuni to advise that an amount has been deposited by the person he sent, but I was unable to assist.”
Interestingly, the Seventh Prosecution Witness, Chief Inspector Thomas Prempeh Mercer, on March 15, 2021 gave similar evidence in court.
“Now Sir, there is no evidence in this court in respect of the purpose of that deposit, that is correct,” lawyer for Seidu Agongo asked the CID man under cross examination.
Chief Insp. Prempeh responded, “No, My Lord there is evidence in this court. My Lord, the evidence in this court points to the fact that A1 in his written statement, written by himself, wrote to the effect that he gave the money to A2 to be paid into his account.”
Samuel Tsatsu Adigler
A District Cocoa Officer of CHED, Samuel Adigler was the Fifth Defence Witness who had direct interactions with farmers who applied lithovit fertilizer, and testified on how farmers lobbied him for the product as well as personally observing the performance of the fertilizer on farms.
He revealed that COCOBOD’s own official report compiled by the management of CHED following field visits to some cocoa farms attested to the fact that Lithovit liquid fertiliser was “very effective”.
The witness, who retired from COCOBOD in 2019 recounted the problems he faced with farmers when COCOBOD stopped the supply of lithovit.
“My Lord, by this I mean the farmers always see Lithovit in our store and it has not been distributed to them for the reason that restrictions have been placed on it. This actually even led to some farmers organising demonstration against me. But for the intervention of the regional chief farmer, Nana kwasi Ofori it wouldn’t be easy. One particular farmer, Mr Robert Enyan, a two time district best farmer and also one of the farmers who used the litovit from 2014 always challenged me when we meet at our local radio station, Nkwa FM.”
When his attention was drawn to the content of the test result conducted at the Chemistry Department of the University of Ghana by a visiting lecturer, Dr. Emmanuel Osei-Twum, who under cross-examination even disowned portions of his own report in court, Mr. Adigler said:
“I can confidently say that this was not the Lithovit COCOBOD supplied to us that was tested [at the University of Ghana].”
He also asserted, “I must add that some of our farmers may look financially poor but are very sound minded. In my 32 years of being a field staff or a frontline staff and working with farmers, I know farmers behaviour very well and there is no way any of them will ever venture to drink any agrochemical. And therefore, whoever said this has just fabricated the story and that is why no farmer has been brought before your court to testify to that effect.”
Mr. Samuel Torbi
Mr. Samuel Torbi, who is the chairman of the Cocoa Cooperative in Assin Fosu in the Central Region with over 33 acres of cocoa farm, also testified about the efficacy of the Lithovit liquid fertilizer.
The 2013 National Most Promising Young Cocoa Farmer described lithovit fertilizer as a “messiah”, asserting that its application helped him to double his harvest.
“Having experienced the efficacy of Lithovit, in the 2016/17 cocoa season, I specifically requested the CHED officials in Assin Fosu to be supplied only with Lithovit liquid fertiliser.” He also showed evidence of how his production declined during seasons that he applied other fertilisers.
This is what he had to say on claims that some farmers drank lithovit fertilizer: “…when someone tells you that you can drink Lithovit fertiliser in your farm, then that person is not a farmer. Or when you are told that you can drink Lithovit liquid fertiliser when you are thirsty then that person is definitely not a farmer.”
Thomas Amo Amankwaa
Thomas Amo Amankwaa a cocoa farmer from Berekum as the Third Defence Witness said Lithovit is the most effective fertilizer he has ever used.
He narrated to the High Court how his production jumped from 1,600kg of cocoa beans to 4,600kg when he applied Lithovit liquid fertilizer.
“Lithovit liquid fertiliser is the most effective fertiliser I have ever used,” Mr. Amankwah touted in court on Wednesday, May 25, contradicting claims that the state did not get value for money in the purchase of Lithovit.
The defence witness therefore asserted, “I can say on authority that it is false for anyone to claim that lithovit liquid fertiliser was not effective”.
Thomas Amo Amankwaa who has been farming cocoa for the past 20 years as his only source of livelihood presented in evidence passbook which contains details of all products received and the quality of cocoa produced by him as well as other information from Licenced Buying Companies.
Whilst one cocoa farmer described Lithovit as a “messiah”, Mr. Amankwaa calls it a “great saviour”.
“My lord, we went to CHED office to demonstrate for the litovit fertiliser to be brought back because it helped us.The COCOBOD officials told me that this will not have any effect and that if we want we can go to radio stations, and so I went to Akonoba FM in Sunyani, Chris Fm in Berekum, Ahenfo fm in Berekum and Shalom FM in Berekum to appeal to the government to bring back Lithovit fertiliser because it helps give us good yield in our cocoa farms.
“My lord, I am here not because of anything but to plead with the government to bring back Lithovit fertiliser because it really helped us.”
Mr. Samuel Amponsah of CHED
Mr. Samuel Amponsah, a former Deputy Executive Director of CHED who retired in 2019 closed Dr. Opuni’s case as the Eleventh Defence Witnesses.
He was deeply involved in the training of farmers on the use of fertilizer among others, and educated the court about the two types of fertilizers – granular and foliar – noting that the name foliar attached to lithovit is a straight forward indication that the fertilizer is liquid.
“Can you tell us what type of fertilisers are granular and the types which are foliar,” he was asked during his evidence in chief.
Mr. Amponsah explained, “My lord, the granular are solid ones like pebble size and others like sugar and foliar is in liquid form.”
Background
The trial actually started in March 2018 after the state pressed 27 charges against the accused persons. The charge sheet was signed by Chief State Attorney Evelyn Keelson on behalf of the then Attorney General. This was after the uncle of the Chief State Attorney, the then Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo had ordered the CID of the Ghana Police Service to take over the case from the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) since the antigraft agency had no interest of taking any legal action after months of investigations found the accused not culpable.
The state closed it case in March 2021 calling seven witnesses. After a controversial ruling on the submission of no case, which became a subject of legal gymnastic at the Supreme Court after the then trial judge, now retired Justice Clemence Jackson Honyenuga, in his closet discarded 18 “exonerating evidence”, the three accused persons were asked to open their defence. The judge was once barred by the Supreme Court from sitting on the case for being bias.
The trial is currently being presided over by a High Court judge Justice Aboagye Tandoh who took over the case from Justice Kwasi A. Gyimah, who was transferred to Kumasi under strange circumstance after he decided to restart the highly politicized case de novo which he inherited following the retirement of Supreme Court judge, Justice Clemence Honyenuga.
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