The attention of the Ministry for Food and Agriculture has been drawn to an outrageous publication alleging procurement breaches and fraud in the award of contracts for the supply of fertilizers under the government's flagship Planting for Food and Jobs programme.
The said article, published by The ABC Newspaper and myabclive. com is full of lies, concoctions and figment of the author's own imagination or that of those behind it.
The Ministry wishes to place on record, without any equivocation, that there has been no procurement breaches as far as the award of contracts for the supply of fertilizer for the 2021/22 crop season is concerned.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has yet to sign contracts with any company for the supply of improved seeds and fertilizers for the upcoming 2022 season. So the accusations are baseless and without any merit.
It is rather a desperate attempt by hidden organisms trying to soil the high reputation of a hard working Minister whose popularity with the grassroots of the NPP is causing sleepless nights for those who are feeling the ground quaking under their feet. Such faceless beings must bow down their heads in deep shame.
The publication claims that one company was allocated 1,100,000 metric tonnes and another company 840,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer. Under Planting for Food and Jobs, the highest amount of fertilizer distributed to farmers in any one year(2020) was some 460,000 metric tonnes. So how can two companies alone be allocated nearly 2,000,000 metric tonnes! That is how ridiculous, comical and ignorant the claims in the said article are.
As it is with all procurement processes, the Evaluation Committee, under the direction of the Chief Director, has made recommendations which is to be considered by the Entity Tender Committee for final approval.
The Entity Tender Committee, upon consideration, will then recommend for contracts to be signed between the Ministry and individual companies who have been given award letters.
It is therefore untrue, as being peddled in the article, to say that the Ministry has entered into contracts with companies for supply of fertilizers for the 2021/22.
Since the introduction of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, processes for the award of contracts for the supply of fertilisers have always been done with strict transparency and recourse to the Public Procurement Authority's rules and regulations.
The Honourable Minister, under his supervision, will never compromise transparency and due process for the interest of any company. The story must therefore be treated with all the contempt it deserves.
We wish therefore to assure all stakeholders and the general public that the Ministry will continue to work in the supreme interest of Ghanaians and farmers in particular.
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