Opuni case: Lithovit Follia Fertilizer sample submitted for testing was powdery – Witness
Dr Alfred Arthur, the Head of Soil Science Division of Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), has told an Accra High Court that the Lithovit Follia Fertilizer sample submitted for testing was a fine powdery substance.
He said after he took delivery of the sample, he opened the substance in the presence of his boss one Mr A.A Afrifa, who was the Head of the Soil Science Division then with its accompanying Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).
Dr Arthur was giving his evidence in chief led by Mrs Yvonne Atakora Oboubisa, the Director of Public Prosecution in the case involving Dr Stephen Opuni and Mr Seidu Agongo, the CEO of Agricult Ghana Limited.
Dr Opuni and Seidu Agongo are facing 27 charges, including defrauding by false pretence, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, corruption by public officer and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.
They have pleaded not guilty and have been granted a GH¢300,000.00 each self-recognisance bail by the Court.
The witness said the Head of the Division instructed him to work on the substance and handed the sample to him with the MSDS documents to carry out the test on Cocoa seedlings using the Follia Fertilizer.
Dr Arthur said a budget was prepared and submitted to Mr A.A Afrifa for onwards submission to the client in question (Agricult).
On what was the MSDS meant for in the testing process, the witness told the court that it talks about the health and safety measure of the product, it gives the name of the product, the manufacturer, origin of the product and the physical appearance of the product.
He said the MSDS handed over to him indicated that the Lithovit Follia Fertilizer submitted by Agricult Ghana Limited had its origin from Germany with the Manufacturer was Zeovita GMBH.
The witness, who is the second Prosecution Witness, said the chemical compositions of the fertilizer were calcium carbonate from natural lime-stone deposit, micro-nutrients and it’s readily soluble.
Dr Arthur, who conducted the test, said these were relevant information CRIG looks out for in the MSDS when handling a product submitted by their clients.
Mrs Atakora Oboubisa asked the witness to describe to the court, how he conducted the text on the fertilizer submitted and he said after the sample was handed over to him, a budget was prepared and he did a literature search on the product to develop synopsis, design an experiment to conduct the test.
He said the experiment design had five treatments with four replications; they were a controlled three levels or rates of the Follia Fertilizer, 25 grams in 10 litres of water, 50 grams in 10 litres of water, 75 grams in 10 litres of water and standards.
He said in testing a new fertilizer, the performance was compared with a standard that was already approved on the market for use on cocoa.
“All the literature I came across indicated that Follia Fertilizer is a fine powdery substance,” he said.
He told the court that the literature search also revealed that Lithovit Follia Fertilizer has been tested in Ghana on tomatoes and had four trials.
The prosecution tended two evidences through the witness; one the sample for testing and the other a report of the testing. Initially there was objection from the Council for accused persons but the court overruled and admitted the evidence as exhibits.
The Court presided over by Justice Clemence Honyenugah, an Appeal Court Judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge adjourned the case to Friday November 2, for continuation of evidence in chief.
Source: GNA