The Minority in Parliament has accused government of contracting a US$600 million loan facility under the guise of cocoa productivity enhancement programme to finance its campaign for the 2020 general elections.
According to the minority, there was no justification for the government to go for the loan facility, except that it intends to use it for its election activities next year.
Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson, who addressed the media after a heated debate on the motion for the US$600 million loan agreement, observed that anomalies in the structure and application of the loan facility are disturbing.
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He stated that the practice with such project loan facilities is that they are not drawn within a year but staggered against the duration of the project they are contracted for.
According to him, the drawdown for the loan in question is, however, six months, which is not a normal practice for such a loan facility.
He cautioned the Agriculture Development Bank, from which the loan is being contracted, that the facility will be subjected to proper scrutiny in the future and that the minority will dig into the matter because everything points to a fact that the facility will be misapplied.
He said, “If not for that, there is no justification to go and take the loan, allow the money to sit idle and then spend it within two months.”
Ato Forson argued that details of the utilization of the loan are also mindboggling and alarming and will definitely not serve the purpose for which it is being taken.
Citing an example, he indicated that $68 million of the money is going to be spent for the purposes of hand pollination when over the past two seasons cocoa production has been in decline despite the fact that over $20 million was used for such activity.
He stated that surprisingly, US$5 million of the money is also going to be used to purchase chocolate products for students, prisoners, and soldiers, which is a total misuse of the funds.
He argued that President Akufo-Addo has lost his bearing and is left confused about the priorities of the state, therefore, all state institutions are also messing up.
The Ranking member stressed that the Minority will continue to fight for the cocoa farmer because this is not how they would expect a loan intended to improve productivity would be utilized.
credit : ghanacrusader.com
