A forensic audit commissioned by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to establish the current value of the Komenda Sugar Factory shows the factory has depreciated about half in value.
The findings of the audit have estimated the $36 million facility at some $16.4 million.
This according to seasoned journalist, Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako, is contained in the final audit report of the valuer Mohammed Issah Iddrisu submitted to EOCO on July 30, 2021.
Excerpts of the report as shared by Kwaku Baako indicates that the plant and machinery at the factory have been estimated at $15, 495,080.00 (Open Market Value) and $12,396, 064.00 (Forced Sale Value).
The valuer estimates the main structure of the factory at $ 1, 000, 200.70 at Open Market Value and $800, 160, 56 at Forced Sale Value; bringing the entire estimated value of the factory to $16,495, 280. 70 and $13, 196, 224. 56 for open market value and forced sale value respectively.
“After series of thorough discussions with relevant stakeholders in Machinery and Equipment manufacturing, wholesale dealers and retailers in used and new similar items, coupled with careful inspection and analysis of data on subject assets (especially the toll of depreciation and technological obsolescence, it is our considered professional opinion that the total estimated fair market value of subject properties as at 5th November 2019 is sixteen million, four hundred and ninety-five thousand, and eighty United States Dollars, seventy cents ($16,495,080.70),” portions of the report as shared by Kwaku Baako reads.
At the back of the finding, Kwaku Baako who has promised to share more details from the document has raised questions he says demand urgent answers.
“What was the real cost of the PLANT & MACHINERY brought into the country for the construction of the factory by the Indian Contractor, SAFETECH between 2013/14 and 2016? And what may have happened between 2016 and 2019 to warrant the apparent depreciation in terms of valuation of PLANT & MACHINERY? FORENSICS, FORENSICS, FORENSICS!” he questions in his post sighted by GhanaWeb read.
The Komenda Suger Factory constructed under the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama government at $36 million saw its first phase commissioned by the former president before his exit from office in 2016.
Despite the commissioning, the factory is yet to begin operation several years down the line.
The current government led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been accused by former President Mahama and his National Democratic Congress party of deliberately failing to operationalize the factory and leaving it to rot away.
The current government in their defence have stated that the planning of the factory by the previous administration failed to take into account some salient matters such as raw materials to feed the factory.
However, the government says it has commenced plans to hand the factory over to a private investor and ensure that it is operationalized in the first quarter of 2022.
Source: ghanaweb.com
