LBCs have been given funds for cocoa purchases – COCOBOD

COCOBOD has denied claims that it has refused to allocate funds to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) for cocoa purchases.

The reaction comes after the Minority in Parliament in a statement referenced a research by the Centre for Socioeconomic studies which claimed that COCOBOD had diverted the first tranche of the Cocoa syndicated loan which was meant to be given for cocoa purchases.

COCOBOD in a statement said: ” We categorically deny any such claims as wholly untrue and therefore cannot be one that was arrived through a meticulous investigation”.

It said all monies required by the purchasing companies especially the state-owned company have been released to them.

Below are details of the statement

The attention of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has been drawn to a supposed research conducted by a group known as the Center for Socioeconomic Studies (CSS) which has received wide media publication.

The said report indicates that, through several calls from the cocoa farmers and further investigations by the CSS, it was revealed that COCOBOD has either refused, neglected or failed to allocate funds to the Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs), especially, Produce Buying Company (PBC) as mandated for cocoa purchases.

We wish to state the following:

(i) We categorically deny any such claims as wholly untrue and therefore cannot be one that was arrived through a meticulous investigation.

(ii) PBC which is the only state owned LBC was allocated the biggest seed fund, which was in excess of GHC390million. In addition, PBC received an amount of GHC121million for payment of cocoa delivered within October/November this year. The released amount is far in excess of what is required by PBC for their cocoa purchase within the period.

(iii) A meticulous investigation or an enquiry would have revealed to CSS that the issue in question was not borne out of the refusal or failure on the part of COCOBOD to release funds for the purchase of cocoa.

(iv) Funds have been made available to all qualified LBCs who have provided bank guarantees. COCOBOD’s policy of protecting public funds by advancing seed funds against bank valid guarantees remain unchanged and will continue to be in force.

(v) It has come to our notice that some LBCs through their own internal challenges have not been able to pay cocoa farmers even though they have received seed funds from COCOBOD. We are engaging all such LBCs to ensure that they immediately get their challenges resolved and offer prompt payment to the farmers to avoid the transfer of their organizational challenges to the farmers who have no hand in creating the problem they face.

COCOBOD wishes to assure all farmers that it has performed its responsibility as expected by releasing funds to all the LBCs including PBC and therefore any problem encountered is not from COCOBOD but regardless we shall facilitate to ensure that they are paid.