Ghana Cocoa Board’s (COCOBOD) Anti-smuggling Task Force in collaboration with the security agencies, has within two weeks, retrieved over 1,500 bags of cocoa, enroute to be smuggled to neighbouring countries.

According to the Director of Special Services at COCOBOD, Mr. Charles Amenyaglo, the win scored against smugglers between the first two weeks of March was through a system instituted by COCOBOD, which comes with incentives for collaborators.

He disclosed that the beans originated from the Western North and Volta regions while arrests were made in the Greater Accra, Volta and Western North regions during transit of the cocoa beans.

In the Greater Accra region, the Mamprobi Police Unit on March 6, following a tip off intercepted 508 bags of standard cocoa beans and 72 bags of cocoa waste beans which was transported from Sefwi Bekwai in a Howo Truck with registration number GS 854-21.

The driver, Abdul Rahman Amadu alleged that he was contracted at a lorry station to load the cocoa beans to Accra.

He was in the process of re-bagging the beans from jute sacks into polythene sacks in order to evade security checks when he was arrested at a school in Mamprobi, which served as the offloading point.

Rahman and two others believed to be labourers have been granted bail with one surety each and are to reappear before the Circuit Court 6 in Accra on April 13.

According to Mr. Charles Amenyaglo, the cocoa beans was released to COCOBOD the next day to prevent deterioration.

“The beans were not thoroughly dried before they were transported and some were drenched in rain water through transit. We had to immediately evacuate them to our Take-Over Centre at Tema for drying, reconditioning and rebagging.”

Following this, 511 bags of good cocoa beans, weighed at 64kg per bag and 123 bags of waste cocoa beans weighed at 50kg per bag was collected.

The Anti-Smuggling Taskforce of COCOBOD also saved about 399 bags of cocoa beans from smugglers who were carting them from Dunkwa-on-Offin and Sefwi Bekwai in the Western North region to the Ivory Coast on March 13.

The trucks with registration numbers, AS 885 – 19 and AS 7457 – 17 have been impounded while the drivers have been granted police enquiry bail pending further investigations.

Meanwhile, a 42-year-old Nigerian national, Isaac Oluwaje who claims ownership of 406 bags of cocoa beans, which was intercepted by a surveillance team of the Special Services Directorate of COCOBOD while being conveyed to Togo through the Volta region, has also been arrested.

Oluwaje claims he bought the cocoa through a business contact at Bonsu Nkwanta in the Western North region for reselling in Togo.

Together with the driver of the track with registration number GX 7632 – 14, Oluwaje had rebagged some of the cocoa beans in poly sacks to avoid detection.

Both are still in Police custody after failing to meet bail conditions following an arraignment before court.

Also in the Volta region, a Circuit Court in Denu has remanded two suspected cocoa smugglers into custody.

The suspects, acclaimed owner of the beans, Ebenezer Tetteh and a truck driver, Francis Awuah were arrested on March 13 following a collaborative operation between COCOBOD and the Aflao Command of the National Investigation Bureau (NIB).

The truck with registration number GX 8579 – 22 moved uninterrupted through the Tema Motorway in the Greater Accra region to the Volta region where they were arrested while crossing Ghana’s major border post to Togo.

Mr. Amenyaglo described as worrying, that discreet checks showed that the truck drove past officials of other State Security Agencies unchecked until it was stopped by an NIB officer at the border.

He also disclosed that attempts were made to influence the officer with an amount of 25,000 cedis to release the truck of cocoa beans.

He said COCOBOD will continue to work with Security Agencies to thwart the efforts of smugglers and called for the public to volunteer information to help arrest culprits. He assured of anonymity and reward for all informants.

In Ghana, the law requires Cocoa farmers to sell their cocoa beans to certified Purchasing Clerks who act as agents of the Cocoa Marketing Company, a subsidiary of COCOBOD that oversees the purchase of cocoa beans on behalf of government.

Ghana recorded a shortfall of 300,000 metric tonnes of cocoa in the 2021/2022 crop season, the lowest in 15 years due to a myriad of challenges including over-aged plants and climate change. There are fears that smugglers would worsen the shortfall in the current crop year if not nipped in the bud.

People have been illegally transporting, or smuggling, cocoa beans between Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana for many years.

Cocoa smuggling between Ghana and Ivory Coast is quite common, with its direction shifting back and forth depending on the price difference between the two countries.

Ivory Coast raised its cocoa producer price per bag by nine per cent from 825 to 900 CFA franc.

The cedi equivalent of the 900 CFA Franc per bag of cocoa weighing 64 kilogramme gross is GH₵850.

Ghana also raised the producer price of cocoa by 21% to GH₵800 per bag for the 2022/2023 season effective October 7, 2022.

The producer price for 2022/2023 cocoa season by 21%, far higher than the nine percent in Ivory Coast, the price per bag in Ghana is GH₵800 which is GH₵50 lower than the GH₵850 per bag in Ivory Coast.

The sharp depreciation of the cedi last year is said to be the reason the price per bag is higher in Ivory Coast despite that country raising farmgate price by just nine per cent compared to the 21% increase by Ghana.

People have been illegally transporting, or smuggling, cocoa beans between Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana for many years.

As long as buyers in Ivory Coast will pay more for Ghana’s higher-quality beans, the smuggling is a lucrative.

Ghana recorded a shortfall of 300,000 metric tonnes of cocoa in the 2021/2022 crop season, the lowest in 15 years due to a myriad of challenges including over-aged plants and climate change.

There are fears that smugglers will worsen the shortfall in the current crop year if not nipped in the bud.

It is the illicit flow of cocoa from Ghana to her next door neighbours that constitutes the major loss of economic wealth

Ghanaian security officials at the borders who permit smuggling should be dealt with ruthless for causing financial loss to the state.

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• COCOBOD intercepts over 1,500 bags of cocoa being smuggled – 20 March 2023
• 3 hurdles to clear this week for IMF board to approve $3bn bailout – 20 March 2023
• Nana tasks CID to probe Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s galamsey claims  – 20 March 2023

Justice Alexander Graham, a Bolgatanga High Court Judge has allegedly fled the Upper East Region after his residence was allegedly attacked by unknown persons on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

The Ghana News Agency gathered that some unknown persons pelted stones at his house which prompted the security of the judge to call for reinforcement.

The attackers immediately left the scene after sensing the arrival of the reinforcement team, comprising the Ghana Police Service and the military.

On Thursday, March 16, 2023, the acting Supervising High Court Judge of the region was escorted out of the region to Accra.

The reason for the attack is currently unknown, however, it came a few days after the judge presiding over cases in the High Court Two in Bolgatanga convicted two people for contempt of court.

The two are Naab Nyakora Maantii, the Divisional Chief of Baare and Mr Richard Sunday Yinbil, Secretary of Talensi Traditional Council.

It has been reported that the two led a delegation sent by Tongraan Kugbilsong Nanlebegtang, Paramount Chief of the Talensi Traditional Area to request a private meeting with Justice Graham to discuss cases filed from the Traditional Area and were pending before the court the judge was presiding over.

The Judge stormed out of his chambers where the delegation met him and ordered the security in the courtroom to arrest them and charge them for contempt.

The accused pleaded guilty and were subsequently convicted on their own plea.

The Judge described the action from the Palace as an attempt to influence his decision and entrap him and asked them to sign a bond of good behaviour with the Upper East Regional Police Command for a period of six months following several appeals from lawyers in the court when the Judge initially wanted to jail the two persons.

The court did not sit on Thursday and Friday as a result of the attack on the Judge which left persons who had cases to be heard stranded after waiting for several hours.

Meanwhile, a statement from the Talensi Traditional Council and signed by Naab Tampelsong Kun Gaadzom, Divisional Chief of Tindongo, admitted to sending two of its members to Justice Graham to invite him to the Palace for a meeting but refuted claims of influence and entrapment.

The statement noted that the Judge had on several occasions referred cases to the Talensi Traditional Council for resolution and therefore, the request was for the Judge to help the Traditional Council resolve land litigation issues in the area according to its Customary Land Secretariat.

At a press conference, the National Patriots Against Injustice and Corruption Ghana (NAPAIC-Ghana), described the attack on the Judge as “barbaric, uncalled for and shameful” and urged the Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah to as matter of urgency, strengthen security to protect Justice Graham, his family and property.

Mr Zumah Tii-roug, Member and Recorder of NAPAIC, who spoke at the press conference, urged the security agencies to conduct a search and investigation to bring perpetrators of the crime to book to serve as deterrent to others.

“There are fears in the region that Justice Alexander Graham would be transferred from the region in the wake of the attack, and this would serve as a bad precedent should he be transferred.

This is so because anytime judgment would be given against litigants, they would resort to this kind of attack on the judge in the hope that the judge would be transferred.

GNA

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• COCOBOD intercepts over 1,500 bags of cocoa being smuggled – 20 March 2023
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• Nana tasks CID to probe Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s galamsey claims  – 20 March 2023

Two Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) want all military personnel involved in the brutalities at Ashaiman following the murder of the soldier, Trooper Imoro Sheriff, to face the law.

In separate statements OccupyGhana and Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD Ghana), said the brutal force used by military personnel left many unsuspecting civilian residents of Ashaiman with various degrees of injuries.

OccupyGhana

OccupyGhana described the actions of the Military as “barbaric, totally uncalled for, absolutely unconstitutional and unlawful”.

It said the constitution guaranteed inviolable dignity to all Ghanaians, even if suspected to have committed a crime and that no Ghanaian should be subjected to “torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from [our] dignity and worth as human beings”.

The pressure group therefore, stated that as the accused persons faced the law, the Military personnel involved and any officer who authorised those actions against residents of Ashaiman must be tried, and officers and supervisors who endorsed the acts after they happened must also resign.

OccupyGhana also asked the Military High Command to apologise to everyone subjected to violations and that the State needed to compensate affected persons.

“There is, therefore, no justification for the pain, suffering and torture that the soldiers visited on clearly innocent people.

“Any powers of arrest that the Military may claim to have, is no different from the arrest powers of any citizen of this country, as regulated by the Constitution,” it added.

It said the rights of Ashaiman residents had been gravely violated as the Military itself appeared to have filmed and shared videos as they subjected citizens to “unspeakable indignities, making an absolute and total a farce of what our Constitution represents and what they see their role in the Ghanaian society as. With these barbaric acts, they made themselves, judge, jury and executioner, and a very terrible one at that”

“The Constitution demands ‘reasonable suspicion’ that the specific person arrested has committed an offence. A mass swoop that occurs days after an offence, and detains as many as 184 people cannot be based on any suspicion that each of them had committed the offence. And even if any such suspicion arguably existed, it would be grossly unreasonable, unwarranted and perverse. Thus, the military unjustifiably violated the constitutional right to due process of every person they detained,” the statement noted.

It said the press statement issued by the Department of Public Relations of the Military on March 7, 2023, was an “absurd justification” of the actions of the officers and had been exposed by the facts provided by the police as false on March 12, 2023, that the unfortunate death resulted from a suspected robbery attempt.

The Pressure Group also said the suspected robbery could have happened in any part of the country and to any citizen and that the Military would not have intervened.

OccupyGhana asked the Military to acknowledge its mandate as all other security agencies to protect the people of Ghana and not to turn on them.

It extended its condolences to the family and loved ones of the murdered military officer.

CDD-Ghana appalled

CDD said the brutal force used by military personnel in their “intelligence-led operation” left many unsuspecting civilian residents of Ashaiman with various degrees of injuries.

It said others were confined to their homes for hours in fear of falling victim to the unprofessional conduct of the military personnel.

It noted that about 184 persons were arrested during this exercise by the military; adding that some were tortured while others were subjected to all kinds of inhumane treatment by the military.

“We are further deeply dismayed by the revelation that this flagrantly unprofessional and barbaric conduct by military personnel was sanctioned by the military hierarchy and received justification and approval not only from the Military High Command, but also from a Deputy Minister of Defence, Kwaku Amankwa Manu, who as a member of the civilian government must exercise oversight and control over the conduct and operations of the armed forces.

“However dastardly, the alleged killing of a military officer and its investigation is a matter of internal security and criminal law enforcement which is the exclusive mandate of the Ghana Police Service, and not the Ghana Armed Forces.”

It said the Ghana Armed Forces should not be free to unilaterally use arms, military accouterments and other taxpayer/public funded resources entrusted to their care for the defense of the nation to avenge a crime committed against one of their own.

The statement said resorting to militarized self-help of this nature for criminal acts committed against individual military personnel undermines the rule of law and creates uneasiness among the civilian population.

It said the fact that the swoop at Ashaiman was not an isolated incident, it also gave cause for great concern.

It said on many occasions in the past, some officers of the Ghana Armed Forces have resorted to acts of militarized self-help in various parts of the country; terrorizing unsuspecting civilians and leaving many injured.

It said for instance, on or about July 1, 2021, a group of military men were reported to have assaulted some civilians in Wa in the Upper West Region, after a phone belonging to one of the military men was allegedly stolen in the area.

“Unfortunately, it appears the punishment meted out to soldiers has prevented these acts from re-occurring.

“We commend the efforts of the Ghana Police Service in tracking down the perpetrators of this dastardly act.”

The statement said however, in the broader spirit of exercising democratic control over the operations and conduct of the armed forces, CDD Ghana urged Parliament to investigate the incident; cause sanctions to be imposed on all persons implicated in the swoop at Ashaiman and ensure that justice was done.

It said CDD Ghana was also urging all persons directly affected by the conduct of the military personnel at Ashaiman to seek redress at the courts.

The statement said the Executive branch must also be advised that failing to condemn and sanction the military officers implicated in the episode was a slippery slope toward a generalized state of lawlessness and anarchy.

“We must remember that under a democratically-elected civilian government, such brutal and unprofessional conduct of soldiers characteristic of military regimes in the past, cannot be encouraged and must never be repeated.”

The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) is an independent, nongovernmental, and not-for-profit organization that promotes and supports, through research, education, advocacy, and policy engagement, efforts to build democracy, good governance, and inclusive development in Ghana and throughout Africa.

CDD-Ghana’s research outputs and other products are available to and used by governmental and nongovernmental agencies, Africa regional bodies, development partners as well as researchers and the public.

Soldiers invade Ashaiman-Taifa

Soldiers invaded Ashaiman-Taifa to avenge the death of their colleague Trooper Imoro Sherrif who was killed by ‘thugs’ in the area.

Armoured tanks, 2 military helicopters provided air support

The soldiers invaded the community with military vehicles including armoured tanks, and two helicopters providing air support.

Soldiers attacked residents

The heavily armed soldiers started attacking residents, preventing them from even stepping out of their homes.

Flogging of residents

In some videos on social media, a young man is heard screaming amid sounds of flogging.

Residents forced to roll in the mud

In other visuals, some residents were forced to roll on the ground in the muddy puddles created by the early morning rains.

Crawl on bellies

Videos circulating on the internet depict civilians being instructed to lie on the ground and crawl using their bellies, while others were subjected to whipping.

According to reports, persons who flout the military’s directives were flogged and manhandled.

Fear and panic

The soldiers have terrorized the local populace, causing fear and panic, and have physically assaulted residents in the neighbourhood.

In defence of brutalities, Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in a statement described it as an operation in parts of Ashaiman to swoop in a man-hunt for some criminals and not for vengeance.

Police investigations revealed that pn March 4, 2023, the police received information on a male adult found lying dead at Ashaiman Taifa.

A team of Police Officers upon reaching the place retrieved a blood-stained knife, a backpack containing an iPad, Ghana Card, National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) card, and a military uniform belonging to the victim who was a soldier with the Third Battalion of Infantry at Sunyani.

Investigations revealed that the slain soldier went to visit his female friend at Ashiaman Newtown at about 10:30pm on March 03, and left for his home at about 1:30am on March 04, but was attacked by Samuel Tetteh, and Abubakar Sadick, at Ashaiman-Taifa with the purpose of stealing his mobile phone.

He added that the two succeeded in stabbing him and robbed him of his iPhone, indicating that the stolen phone was subsequently sold to Ibrahim for GH₵‎300 who re-sold it to Safianu Musah for GH₵‎ 350.

The Prosecution added that Safianu claimed to have also sold the phone to Yussif Mohammed and Gafaru Abdul Karim.

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• COCOBOD intercepts over 1,500 bags of cocoa being smuggled – 20 March 2023
• 3 hurdles to clear this week for IMF board to approve $3bn bailout – 20 March 2023
• Nana tasks CID to probe Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s galamsey claims  – 20 March 2023