An American Agriculturist and expert in grain production, Everett Anderson has told the Fast Track Court in Accra that the proposal presented by the Quality Grains Company for rice production in Ghana was not convincing because it was self-serving to whoever prepared it as well as those who accepted it.

Testifying in the Quality Grains Company case, Mr Anderson noted that as a consultant on rice projects, studies he conducted on the proposal sent to Exim Bank by Mrs. J.R. Cotton of Quality Grain Company for the rice project led him to conclude that no bank or financial institution will advance money for such a project based on its contents.

A bank will therefore give out such a loan only when the proposal is endorsed by a state as happened in the case of Quality Grain Company. He noted that any person with knowledge on rice production would know that the proposal document was not convincing since it was prepared by people without knowledge on rice production.

He agreed that there was more than one way of preparing feasibility reports on projects but stated that there was something wrong with Quality Grain Company’s feasibility studies because the company invested too much money with too much overhead costs. Hearing continues next week.

Two former Ministers of State, Ibrahim Adam and Kwame Peprah and four former senior public officials are being tried for causing financial loss of $20 million to the state in the Quality Grain affair. They have all pleaded not guilty and are on bail.