COCOBOD DEPUTY CEO WELCOMES OSP PROBE, DENIES CONFLICT OF INTEREST ALLEGATIONS
Mr. Ato Boateng insists he resigned from Atlas Commodities before assuming office and declared all interests
The Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr. Ato Boateng, has welcomed calls for investigations by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) over allegations of conflict of interest linked to Atlas Commodities Limited.
The response follows demands by the Minority in Parliament, led by the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, for a full criminal investigation into the operations of Atlas Commodities. The Minority has alleged that the company operated in warehouses registered under the Produce Buying Company (PBC) without proper authorisation and raised concerns about possible regulatory breaches and conflict of interest.
However, in a document sighted by Citi News on Monday, February 23, Mr. Boateng dismissed the allegations as false and unfounded.
According to the statement issued in his defence, Mr. Boateng resigned as a director of Atlas Commodities Limited on January 20, 2025, before assuming his current role at COCOBOD. He also transferred his shares in the company to Edinam Yao Cofie and George Ofori, who now serve as trustees of a trust established for that purpose.
The statement further indicated that Mr. Boateng duly declared his previous interest in Atlas Commodities in his official Declaration of Assets and Liabilities, as required of public officers, and lodged the documentation with the Auditor-General.
Clarifying COCOBOD’s operational structure, the statement explained that the Board does not hold shares in PBC and therefore does not influence its management decisions.
It added that regulation of Licensed Buying Companies falls under the Deputy Chief Executive for Operations, while grading, sealing and cocoa quality supervision are handled by the Deputy Chief Executive for Agronomy and Quality Control.
Distribution and allocation of seed money to Licensed Buying Companies, when applicable, are undertaken by the Research Department under the Deputy Chief Executive for Operations and sanctioned by the COCOBOD Board.
The Deputy Chief Executive for Finance and Administration, the statement stressed, is responsible only for effecting payments after approvals by the Chief Executive, the Board and the Deputy Chief Executive for Operations have been completed.
It also noted that for the past two years, COCOBOD has not provided seed money to Licensed Buying Companies to purchase cocoa beans. Instead, companies have had to secure their own buyers or obtain bank financing.
Based on these clarifications, the statement maintained that Mr. Boateng has not used his position to influence decisions in favour of Atlas Commodities Limited.
The statement further questioned why the MP continues to publicly press the matter after petitioning the OSP and CHRAJ, rather than awaiting the outcome of the investigations.
Source:NKONKONSA.com
