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A quantity of government subsidised fertiliser valued at GH¢600, 000.00 has been stolen from the Sunyani Municipal Warehouse in the Brong Ahafo Region, the Regional Minister, Mr Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, has disclosed.

The fertiliser is part of a consignment sent to the region for prospective farmers under the “Planting for Food and Jobs” programme.

The case has been reported to the Regional Crime of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) among other security agencies for investigations.

Arrests   

Speaking at a press conference in Sunyani, Mr Asomah-Cheremeh said seven officers of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) have been arrested and were assisting the police in investigation.

He said until investigations were concluded, it would be difficult to identify the exact quantity of fertilisers that is missing from the warehouse.

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh observed that the period of the alleged stealing was between October last year and June this year.

According to him, there were no security officers assigned to check illegal activities at the warehouse, explaining that the keys to the facility were given to individual agriculture officers.

He stated that there was no evidence that the gate or padlocks of the facility had been tampered with, hence the suspicion that the robbers used the exact keys of the warehouse to open the facility to steal the items.   

Mr Asomeh-Cheremeh said all those identified or mentioned in relation to the alleged robbery had been invited by the police, saying “till the end of the investigations, their names could not be mentioned”.

Caution

Mr Asomeh-Cheremeh cautioned other directors and officers in charge of the district and municipal offices of MoFA to refrain from stealing fertilisers and other farm inputs belonging to the government.

He said measures had been put in place in the various district offices of MoFA to prevent staff from stealing the fertiliser.