Baffour Kweku Agyamang, the 2017 National Best Farmer, finds it regrettable that businessman and philanthropist Alhaji Seidu Agongo is facing legal action for providing farmers with Lithovit liquid fertiliser.
The well-known agricultural entrepreneur testified before Justice Clemence Honyenuga's court in the ongoing GHS271 million financial loss case against Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, the former CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board, and businessman Seidu Agongo that the fertiliser was extremely helpful to him and farmers in communities that grow cocoa.
Mr. Agyemang questioned why the state would pursue legal action against the individual who made it possible for farmers to obtain the product given that it increased yields, which prompted a number of testimony from farmers, among them him, a National Best Farmer.
When he was called as a witness for Alhaji Agongo, he was in the middle of answering questions in court.
Fafa Nutsukpui, who held the brief for Mr. Benson Nutsukpi, one of the attorneys for Mr. Agongo and his firm, Agricult, was leading him.
Mr. Agyemang, a long-time farmer, claimed that as of 2017, the year he received the national honour, his cocoa crops covered 184 acres.
Mr. Agyemang claimed, "The Lithovit liquid fertiliser I used definitely benefited me. I won't sing its accolades if it didn't.
"I must say that Joseph Boahen Aidoo, CEO of Cocobod, has been a tremendous assistance to me. He is aware of my farms, and he even built a free irrigation system and borehole for me. He and his Cocobod representatives helped me obtain solar electricity for my farm. He also sent me to Switzerland in 2018 and paid for all travel expenses. Since Joseph Boahen Aidoo was not in office when I first purchased Lithovit liquid fertiliser, "if the Lithovit liquid fertiliser hadn't helped me this much, I wouldn't be here to deliver such testimonials."
Because of this, he said, "punishing" Alhaji Agongo for giving the government agency the "very useful" Lithovit liquid fertiliser, which was then given to farmers, would be "quite painful" for the recipients.
When asked how he felt about Alhaji Agongo and his business being brought before the court to be punished for inflicting financial loss to Mr. Agyemang stated that "when that happens, it would be quite painful" for the farmers since "the Lithovit liquid fertiliser we used was of enormous help to us" in relation to the state supplying Lithovit fertiliser to Cocobod.
After Cocobod forbade the use of the pesticide, Mr. Agyemang declared he was ready to use his own money to get more of it. "Yes, Lord, that is true. If I could have obtained it from somewhere else, I would have.
He felt that Mr. Agongo's business did not squander money by providing Lithovit liquid fertiliser to Cocobod for the 2014–2015 growing season. He said that Mr. Agongo did not result in any financial loss for Cocobod as a result. Mr. Agyemang claimed that he had no reservations about using Lithovit liquid fertiliser, just as many farmers did.
On Monday, July 18, 2022, he testified in court that he never overheard any CHED personnel suggest that any farmer had filed a complaint against Lithovit liquid fertiliser after using it on their property.
On the other hand, he said that following its banishment, "I learned from them that I wasn't the only one who was hunting for the Lithovit liquid fertiliser."
When asked what he thought of Dr. Yaw Adu-evidence, Ampomah's the third witness for the state, who claimed that the fertiliser was inefficient and some farmers drank it instead of water because of its unkind nature, When you open Lithovit liquid fertiliser, your nostrils will burn, according to Mr. Agyemang. It also has a urine-like odour.
I don't know PW3, Dr. Adu-Ampomah, but the Lithovit liquid fertiliser is fantastic, he said.
This is due to the fact that "other farmers had it, too," adding that "I wasn't the only one who obtained some of the Litovit liquid fertiliser."
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