Chief Executive, Operations Director, & Nana Yeboa Kodie; All Caught Pants Down

Against the panorama of some media reports that seek to impugn integrity of the Board Chairman of Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF),Professor Francis Dodoo’s with allegations that he and three others have hijacked the management of the fund, in-depth investigations conducted by The Informer reveals otherwise.

As speculated via reports that one Juliana Asante, Ernest A. Minta and Cynthia Pamela Addo, all employees at EDIF, have teamed up with the Board Chairman to interdict the Acting Chief Executive, Messrs Agyabeng Antwi-Agyei, Kofi Ampofo Agyapong (Drector of Operations) for no apparent reason; and subsequently, have unjustifiably directed that a board member, Nana Yeboa Kodie Asare II, steps aside, all proved to be false, during this paper’s probe into the activities of the aforementioned personalities.

It was revealed during our investigations that the Acting Chief Executive (now on interdiction) wrote to inform about Thirty Eight (38) farmers, of the board’s approval for a recoverable facility to support their production of exotic mangoes, when he has not consulted the Board, let alone seek its consent. It was also found out that, in addition to the sending out of award letters without authorization from the Board of Directors, Mr. Agyabeng Antwi-Agyei caused various sums of money to be paid to the farms/ companies before the matter could come before the board for discussion.

Contrary to claims by the interdicted Chief Executive, the Director of Operations (also on interdiction) and the Director Of Audit (interdicted), that two of the farms; Alliance Farms and Abotare-Ye Farms, are both located in the Brong Ahafo region, it turned out during our investigations that the above-mentioned farms were rather in the Ashanti region.

Whiles both farms were found to have been located in the Ashanti Regional town of Bosomkyekye, where Board Member, Nana Yeboa Kodie Asare II comes from, according to the EDIF documents currently in this paper’s possession, the Board of Directors through the interdicted Acting Chief Executive listed Aboatre-Ye Farms in Bosom in the Brong-Ahafo region, and Alliance Farms in Kyere also in the Brong Ahafo region.

Interestingly, the letterhead of Alliance Farms shows that it is located in the Ashanti Region and not the Brong Ahafo region as portrayed.

It came during our search that, Nana Yeboa Kodie Asare II, who presided over the March 17th, 2011 meeting to spell out the award procedure, and most importantly, determined Farms/ companies that qualified to benefit from the fund, has considerable interest in one of the farms - Alliance Farms.

Revealing also, it turned out that the Alliance Farms was not registered as a company as at March 14th, 2011, when Mr. Agyabeng Antwi-Agyei gave them their award letter with a funding of GH¢201, 660.00 for their 100 Acre Mango farm, according to our search at the Registrar General’s Department.

Per the document sighted, Alliance Farms Limited was incorporated on March 15th, 2011, and a certificate to commence business issued on March 16th, 2011. Nana Yeboa Kodie Asare II, who has since resigned as a Board Member, has been cited in a Conflict of Interest situation, because as at the time he was presiding over the March 17TH board meeting, he was aware that a business/company in which he had not only an interest but is a majority shareholder, was among those farms to be considered for an award of the said contract.

This controversy and disgrace as result of the revelation uncovered by the board, led to his premature decision to resign, as a board member. This explains why Professor Francis Dodoo and his management team decided to interdict, the Ag. Chief Executive and his two colleagues; and subsequent resignation letter tendered by Nana Yeboa Kodie Asare II on the 28th September, 2011 to His Excellency President John Evan Atta Mills.