Kuapa Kokoo farmers accuse management of financial malfeasance

Tension is brewing among members of the Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited (KKFU), formerly known as Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union following some alleged financial irregularities by the union’s leadership.

The members are therefore calling for swift investigations to uncover what they strongly believe constitute “financial malfeasance and embezzlement”, especially on the part of the Managing Director of the Union, Madam Fatima Ali and three others to save the union from total collapse.

Speaking on behalf of the aggrieved members at a News Conference in Kumasi last Monday, the Nkawie District/Society President of KKFU, Adams Alhassan, accused Madam Fatima of embezzling funds worth millions of cedis in depot constructions and other expenses.

“The worst of it all is that Mad. Fatima Ali, the Executive Secretary of the KKFU (Mr. Nelson Adubofour), the accountant (Mr. Luke Antwi) and the Administrator (Mr. Bernard Missedjah) have formed company called Aya Legacy Ltd in which the Administrator is the sole shareholder and also a director”, he said.

He further alleged that: “These four people have been syphoning the revenues of farmers from certified cocoa projects into the company’s account in the name of “market commission”. So far, our findings have revealed that they have channeled GHC1,993,135.04 of the farmers money into Aya Legacy Account. We know that a true and proper investigation will reveal more.”

Mr. Adams Alhassan continued that the matter has been reported to the Ashanti Regional Police command and hoped that it would be treated with all seriousness to ensure that those found culpable are brought to book.

“Already, Mad. Fatima Ali is going round boasting that the Police and other high people in government and the judiciary are on her pay pocket. We are not surprised that she is going about boasting because we have come across documents in the KKFU which show that Mad. Fatima Ali has withdrawn hundreds of thousands of cedis of the Farmers money in the name of state institutions and highly placed personalities in Ghana”, he also alleged.

Background
It would be recalled that in November last year, members of the Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited (KKFU), formerly known as Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union, expressed their displeasure about the management style of the Managing Director of the Union, Madam Fatima Ali in the last couple of years.

They therefore called for her immediate dismissal to save the union from further financial distress and gross mismanagement; alleging among others that Madam Fatima Ali, who initially became the Acting head of the Union in 2000 following the dismissal of the then Managing Director, failed to put the union on its feet since assuming office and has succeeded in plunging it into serious difficulties.

The embattled Fatima Ali became the President of Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU) in 2014 at the age of 36. Prior to this, she was elected to the Society’s Executive Council (then District Executive Council) in 2003 and then as a Secretary of the National Executive Council (NEC) after joining the Union in 2000 at Alikrom zone (the Alikrom Society), having been elected as the Recorder for the zone in 2002 in the Akontombra District of the Western region.

Kuapa Kokoo
Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited (KKFU) is Ghana’s pioneer and the leading producer of ethical cocoa beans.

Established in 1993 with 2000 farmers and currently has 100,000 registered farmers across Ghana. KKFU is multiply certified under Fair Trade and UTZ/Rainforest Alliance

Its mission is to develop itself into a formidable farmer-based organisation capable of mobilizing quality cocoa products, improving the livelihood of members and satisfying customers and hopes to become a leading, caring, efficient and the most globally recognized cooperative in cocoa production and marketing in Ghana

To provide a medium for the social, economic and political empowerment of cocoa farmers, enhance the participation of women in the decision-making process at all levels of operation and organisation and encourage environmentally sustainable cocoa production processes, among others.

Kuapa Kokoo is made up of Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative Farmers and Marketing Union Limited (KKFU) which is a Union or Association of cocoa farmers from 57 District Cooperatives called Societies. The KKFU together with a minority shareholder own Kuapa Kokoo Ltd. (KKL). There are over 100,000 farmers forming the Union.