Members of the farmers' cooperative union have filed a lawsuit against the administration of Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited (KKFU).
They have accused the Operations Manager, Luke Antwi, and the Acting Managing Director of KKFU, Fatima Ali, of stealing.
The two have been accused of conspiring to steal and stealing a total of GH8.7 million from KKFU, and they have been prosecuted and presented before the Asokwa Circuit Court.
Two other people The union's executive secretary, Nelson Adubofour, and administrator, Bernard Yaw Missedja, have also been charged.
Currently, Adubufour and Missedja are apparently evading capture.
Luke Antwi and Fatima Ali have both appeared before Fred Obikyere's bench.
11 charges of conspiracy to steal and an additional 11 counts of theft have been brought against the two.
Plea
They were each allowed a bail value of GH4 million with two sureties, one of whom had to be justified, after entering not guilty pleas to all 22 counts.
The two defendants were also instructed by the Fred Obikyere-presiding court to leave their passports with the court registrar.
Justification
Ali's attorney, Kwame Owusu-Sekyere, begged the judge not to need sureties during the bail application review because the accused were being asked to leave their passports with the court.
According to the defense, Ali had even used her assets to acquire financing for the business and, as a result, would not flee but rather appear in court to ensure that the issue was resolved.
However, the prosecution disagreed and requested that the rationale be upheld. The prosecution was led by Principal State Attorney Cecilia Animah Peprah-Takyi.
The judge stated that he considered the fact that the second accused individual had previously been given bail as well as the fact that Ali, despite being absent from the initial hearing last week, had not been brought to court on a warrant.
He said that while her accused conspirator had been given release, it would be unjust to deny Ali bail.
Therefore, he granted her bail and scheduled a case management session for May 8, 2023.
Facts
The Principal State Attorney, Mrs. Peprah-Takyi, presented the case's facts to the court, stating that Kuapa Kokoo Limited, a licensed cocoa buying firm with a subsidiary known as KKFU, has been experiencing financial difficulties since May 2022, which has resulted in the non-payment of commissions for purchasing clerks.
She claimed that the corporation did not pay farmers bonuses for the 2021–2022 cocoa season and was unable to buy cocoa beans from its farmers during the light harvest season from June to September 2022.
She said that after many inquiries by several KKFU national executive council members, it was discovered that some firm cash had been misappropriated.
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