Quality Grain scandal: Ex-Finance Minister, 4 others charged

Two former Ministers and three others have been charged for their role in the controversial Quality Grain Company saga. They are former Finance Minister, Kwame Peprah, former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Ibrahim Adam and former Chief of Staff, Nana Ato Dadzie. The rest are Dr. Samuel Sikpah-Yankey formerly with the Ministry of Finance.

A Ghanaian Times report says the five officials would appear before an Accra High Court next week charged with conspiracy to commit financial loss to the state.


So far, 10 million dollars including the assets of the company and a light aircraft purchased for spraying at the cost of $500, 000 is what has been computed to be lost to the state.


The report says further investigation is being conducted into the operations of the company to get the real amount involved.


It said the former President, Jerry Rawlings and his Vice, Professor John Evans Atta Mills were not the subject of the investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and could therefore not be held for any wrongdoing.


The principal character in the whole saga, Ms. Renee Woodard Cotton is currently under investigation in the United States.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice at a recent press conference on the Quality Grain saga said that investigation by the SFO into the matter has implicated Nana Ato Dadzie and Kwame Peprah, as having indulged in fraudulent activities by assisting an unregistered company to acquire state funds.


Peprah was cited to have approved and executed loan agreements in favor of Quality Grain Company Limited without Parliamentary approval while Nana Dadzie supervised the granting of such loans.


The SFO investigation also cited Alhaji Ibrahim Adam, a former Minister for Agriculture for introducing Ms. Renee Woodard, Chief Executive of the Company to the Finance Ministry and also using his office to acquire land at Aveyime for the cultivation of the rice farm.


The AG also mentioned the Chief Director of the Ministry of Agriculture Dr. Samuel Dapaah as having also been implicated by the investigation.


Dr. Dapaah together with Dr. Sikpah-Yankey, legal Advisor at the Finance Ministry, were said to have facilitated the granting of loans and helped transfer the monies involved into the personal account of Ms. Woodard.