COCOBOD CEO must be fired if he authorized cocoa imports – John Kwakye

The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs, John Kwakye, has said the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board must be hauled before parliament and fired if he approved the import of cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

He said the approval for the imports does not make sense when the country’s cocoa processing firm, PBC, is currently struggling to operate.

John Kwakye wrote on X: “If it's true that CEO of COCOBOD has authorised AFROTROPIC to import cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria to process locally while PBC is being starved of funds to buy cocoa from Ghanaian farmers, he should be hauled before Parliament and eventually fired by the President.”

The Vice President of policy think-tank IMANI Africa, Bright Simons had earlier noted that Ghana’s main state-owned cocoa trader is on the verge of bankruptcy.

In January 2023, he hinted at the company’s decision to reduce its staff population by one-third due to financial challenges.

According to him, the company had reduced its staff strength from 3000 to less than 1000 as of 2023 and was still planning on letting more workers go.

Bright Simons lamented the predicament of the workers while adding that the management of the company is not affected by the mass layoffs.

“PBC's situation is now beyond repair. Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) is also on the verge of bankruptcy.

"Meanwhile, Cocobod is unable to benefit from sky-high spot prices bcos it hardly has any cocoa to sell, having collateralised most output. Will SOEs ever work in Gh?” he wrote on X on January 26, 2024.

SSD/NOQ

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