The $10 million rice imported into the country by the past government from India through the instrumentality of former Foreign Minister, Akwasi Osei-Adjei, and for which he is being investigated for allegedly causing financial loss to the state, is now on sale.
Even though the rice had since its arrival into the country late last year been locked up in Customs Bonded Warehouses, the Atta Mills administration says the importation amounted to financial loss and ordered investigations into the matter.
The sale of the rice, which starts next Monday, will open another chapter in the entire saga as several questions are flying over whether indeed there was a loss at all, and what would happen to the investigations after the main exhibit is taken out of the warehouse. The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) had been at the centre of the controversy, seizing the former minister�s passport. But before the investigations are over, the �controversial rice�, which is the main exhibit in the case, is now being sold.
The National Investment Bank (NIB), the sole importer of the rice, has in advertisements in the print media, made invitations to tender for the sale of the rice. �The National Investment Bank Limited has available for sale a large quantity of rice as follows: Quantity � 282,882 bags of 50kg each, Source � India, Grade � 25% broken�. According to NIB, interested companies and members of the general public are to submit sealed tenders marked �Sale of Indian Rice� at the main reception of the bank�s head office not later than Monday 17th August 2009, and the tenders would be opened the following day Tuesday August 18.
It stressed that tenders can only bid for a minimum of 10,000 bags or multiples of 10,000 bags as against earlier advert that suggested that they needed somebody who could buy all.Even though the rice arrived just around last year�s election, it was not cleared until early this year, and stored at the Makai Logistics Warehouse, Tema, and another along the Spintex Road, Accra.It is not clear what happened to it but when the media was invited to observe a stock-taking exercise on 17th July 2008, reports say a total of 14,257 bags had gone to waste.
At the first Customs bonded warehouse at Tema, the media was informed that 3,282 bags of the rice got burst, 76 bags appeared empty, and 12 caked, with a shortage of seven. The total quantity received at the warehouse was 95,214 out of which 9, 1837 were in what was described as sound, meaning they were in good condition. Also at the Spintex Road warehouse, 9,431 bags of the rice were reported burst, 731 bags emptied, 582 bags caked and 136 could not be accounted for.
Although the warehouse received the highest quantity of 201,789 bags, what appeared to be edible was 19,0909. It is recalled that, as part of the investigations process, Hon. Akwasi Osei-Adjei�s passport was on Tuesday 26th May 2009, confiscated by the BNI when he was �invited� for interrogation. He was at a point accused of attempting to flee the country. He said he only facilitated the deal and that he never signed any contract for him to have caused any financial loss.
According to the former minister, the Government of Ghana at the time pleaded with the Government of India to waive a ban on the exportation of food products so as to allow rice to be exported from the Asian country to Ghana, and that was where he came in as facilitator. He explained that three banks were asked to consider lifting the rice, and the NIB was found the most suitable for the purpose.
He insisted that he only brokered a diplomatic deal with the Indian government to lift an embargo on rice exportation to some African countries, including Ghana to stem the rising cost of food prices at the time.Describing the seizure of his passport as an illegality and an abuse of his human rights, the former minister dragged the Attorney General and Minister of Justice as well as the Director of BNI to an Accra High Court, which ordered that his passport be given back.
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