GH¢60.51 Billion Irregularities: IMANI demands immediate intervention

Franklin Cudjoe, President of policy think tank IMANI Africa, has launched a blistering critique of Ghana’s political communications landscape, accusing members of the former administration of “wickedness” and “greed” while demanding accountability for the nation’s economic woes.

In a strongly worded statement released this week, Cudjoe argued that the current debate over the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and the energy sector is being hijacked by “noisy and uncouth” political actors who, he stated, dissipated the very funds they are now urging the government to use for relief.

Cudjoe’s intervention highlights a stark financial comparison recently raised by social commentator Neenyi Ayirebi-Acquah. According to Cudjoe, the cumulative losses of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) between 2021 and 2024 stand at a staggering GH¢27.6 billion.

As of the end of 2024, the (COCOBOD) reported a total debt of GH¢32.91 billion. This financial position includes a negative equity of approximately GH¢3.8 billion, marking a significant decline from the positive equity of GH¢1.8 billion recorded in 2016.

Ironically, this figure nearly mirrors the GH¢30 billion in working capital that the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration is seeking to raise to stabilise COCOBOD.

“It is hard not to see the irony,” Cudjoe remarked. “And yet, the noisy communicators of that perilous and wicked era are jumping from one media house to another, asking for relief for farmers from funds they dissipated with the force of greed.”

Beyond the energy and cocoa sectors, the IMANI leader expressed deep frustration with the judicial system’s pace in handling allegations of corruption against former officials.

He noted that while elements of the previous regime have dared the ruling government to “take them to court or shut up”, the state appears to be moving in “slow motion”.

“I agree with them,” Cudjoe said, referring to the dare from former officials. “There is too much slow motion, and the courts are playing along. Too many crooks are walking about freely.”

Cudjoe warned that the Ghanaian brand had been “destroyed” by a period of looting during which officials “ate our food and forgot our names”. He urged the current government to move decisively to prosecute those responsible for the country’s financial depletion.

The policy analyst concluded by reminding Ghanaians that politics is too important to be left to politicians alone.

He urged taxpayers to reclaim the public discourse from what he described as “educated illiterate” communications teams who dominate the airwaves.

“We pay taxes and employ them. Why should we allow some noisy communication team members to seize the space and misbehave? Please do not cede your space to them,” he charged.

The comments come at a time of heightened tension as the government rolls out a rescue plan for COCOBOD, which includes salary cuts for executives and the transfer of billions of cedis in road-related debt to the Ministry of Finance in a bid to save the cocoa regulator from collapse.