Prosecute COCOBOD CEO for causing financial loss – Minority

The Minority in Parliament is calling for the prosecution of the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD for causing financial loss to the state.

According to the NDC MPs, a directive to all contractors to halt ongoing works on all COCOBOD funded projects has resulted in deterioration of such projects.

Joseph Boahene Aidoo in July 2017 announced the decision to halt construction when the Board and management of the company paid a courtesy call on the Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panyin.

He said the decision was to allow the company conduct a full audit into all road contracts to ensure that it does not strain its finances. He noted that the previous government had entered into various road contracts of values far above the company’s financial capacity.

In an interview with Starr News, he defended the directive arguing it was to ensure value for money.

However, the minority spokesperson on Roads and Highways Agboza Kwame Governs argues that the claim of the CEO that project costs have been inflated are untenable.

“The current Chief Executive of COCOBOD must be cited for willfully causing financial loss to the state…contractors are working, they haven’t stopped working and you go and tell them to stop work and as a result the roads have deteriorated beyond what they were meaning that when the contractors return they will have to go and carry out further repair works which will cost us money, it is an act that is avoidable.

“So the NPP have no excuse to say that they will not build roads or they do not have money…they allocated 1.5billion Ghana cedis to the office of the president, it is all about priority,” Hon. Agboza told Starr FM’s Parliamentary correspondent Ibrahim Alhassan.