Tension at COCOBOD: Hackman Owusu-Agyemang parries takeover claims

The board chairman of COCOBOD Hackman Owusu-Agyemang has denied rumours that he has taken over the jobs of management at the state company.

Reports gathered by Starrfmonline.com indicate that uneasy calm has engulfed COCOBOD over some overbearing actions of Mr. Owusu-Agyeman.

According to sources at COCOBOD, Mr. Owusu-Agyeman has taken over the jobs of the HR personnel at COCOBOD by personally scrutinising and approving leave requests for staff.

He is also, according to sources, the chairman of the Board sub-committee on Finance, which reports to the Board, where he is the Chair.

The source further revealed to StarrFMonline.com that the former Works and Housing minister has also directed all line managers at COCOBOD to report to him personally.

But responding to the claims, Mr. Owusu-Agyeman denied the allegations, describing it as an attempt to distract him from the job.

He said he has not been at COCOBOD for over four weeks hence cannot be asking staff to apply for their leave through him.

“These are baseless claims, they are not true. I have been practicing corporate governance for many years and will never ask staff of a company to seek their leave through the board chairman.

“My decision to accept to be chair of the sub-committee on finance was to ensure financial prudence at all levels. The situation is such that not every decision of that committee ends up with the board itself so I needed to be there ensure that we cut cost at every step and save money for the nation.

“I know that some people are not happy with the changes we are introducing at COCOBOD and so they will say some of these things to frustrate our efforts, but we are determined to ensure that the right things are done for the nation and nothing will stop us,” he told StarrFMonline.com.

Mr. Owusu-Agyeman was appointed board chair of COCOBOD by President Akufo-Addo following the victory of the NPP in the 2016 presidential elections. He has been at the job since March 2017.