The Representative of Nimba County District #5, Hon. Kortor Sehwongbay Kwagrue, has accused Agriculture Minister Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah of allegedly mismanaging US$800,000 intended for fertilizers, seed rice, and agro-chemicals.
The lawmaker said there is no trace of any delivered goods, according to his investigation. Rep. Kwagrue claimed that of US$997,080 allocated for agricultural supplies, there are no county warehouse delivery records, no physical evidence of goods supplied, and no traceable offices for the vendors paid.
The lawmaker further alleges that contracts went to front companies linked directly to the Minister. He named Mar & Mon Group of Companies (US$152,250 for agro-chemicals), which Rep. Kwagrue says is a tailoring and sewing business in Sinkor and Thinker’s Village; Gempro Agro Chemicals and Supplies (US$210,828.84 for seed rice); and Agri Commodity Trading Company, which received US$240,920 for NPK fertilizer and US$196,000 for urea.
These claims have not been independently verified by Verity News.
The lawmaker also pointed to a policy contradiction: the Agriculture Minister has said government budget funds are not supporting rice farmers this year, leaving that to donor-funded projects; yet core government money was spent on seed rice and fertilizer.
Reports cited by the lawmaker suggest that the ministry leadership is allegedly attempting to use donor-project farmer lists to cover the missing funds. The lawmaker is demanding to know why the supplies were bought under the national budget, who the verified recipient farmers are, and which county warehouses received the items.
Rep. Kwagrue is calling for an immediate independent investigation and full disclosure of procurement records.
In response to Rep. Kwagrue’s allegations, Agriculture Minister Dr. Nuetah claimed that the lawmaker does not understand the ministry’s expenditures.
