Agric Ministry denies fertilizer fraud

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has denied media reports that there were breaches in the procurement of fertilizer for farmers across the country and that the aggrieved companies have threatened to petition the office of Special Prosecutor.

It said the media reports were targeted at injuring the reputation of Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister for the MoFA.

“The Ministry wishes to place on record, without any equivocation, that there have 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 MoFA has noted.

The denial of the procurement breeches was contained in a rejoinder issued on Tuesday and signed by Issah Alhassan, Press Secretary to Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto.

Below is the full statement:

RE: FERTILIZER SCANDAL TO ROCK MOFA…
Aggrieved companies threaten to petition OSP

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 Ministry wishes to place on record, without any equivocation, that there have 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 for Food and Agriculture.

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 are 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 the supply of fertilizers for 2021/22.

Since the introduction of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, processes for the award of contracts for the supply of fertilizers 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.

Signed
Issah Alhassan
Press Secretary to the Honourable Minister