Minority descends on COCOBOD over Mahama's claims

The Minority in Parliament has accused the Ghana COCOBOD of misinforming the public and peddling falsehood.

Their accusations come in defense of former President John Mahama’s claims about Ghana’s cocoa sector.

John Mahama had9 stated that Ghana’s cocoa sector is on the brink of collapse due to the government’s mismanagement.

The ranking Member on Parliament’s Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs Eric Opoku said: “Ghana COCOBOD must know that they cannot seek refuge in lies to cover the havoc they have wrecked on the cocoa sector, the untold hardships unleashed on the Ghanaian cocoa farmer and the crass incompetence, mismanagement, recklessness, and insensitivity demonstrated so far.”

The NDC intimated that the COCOBOD it handed over to the current government was a thriving one whose plights have only worsened because of mismanagement.

“In 2017, the NDC handed over a prosperous and thriving cocoa industry with buffers in the cocoa stabilization fund, farmers’ welfare fund, depreciation fund, farmers’ housing fund, and others including GH₵29 million set aside for the rolling out of the cocoa farmers pension scheme envisaged under the P.N.D.C.L 81.

“Shockingly, the Akufo-Addo government has dissipated all these buffers within 6 years, leaving nothing for the industry to lean on in times of difficulties,” ranking Member on Parliament’s Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs, Eric Opoku, who spoke on behalf of the minority said.

“Again, the Board has been incurring losses since Nana Addo assumed office. COCOBOD is yet to explain why the cocoa industry cannot be profitable under the Nana Addo/Bawumia government. Available records indicate the following;

Year Losses (GH₵’million)

2017 395.0

2018 78.2

2019 320.6

2020 426.0″

The Minority further noted that it recorded some of the best feats in the cocoa sector during the tenure of John Mahama.

Ranking Member on Parliament’s Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs, Eric Opoku further said, “In the entire four-year period of President John Mahama, producer price of cocoa was increased by 124.1 percent (from GH₵212 in 2013/14 to GH₵475 in 2016/17) contrasted with 68.4 percent in the last six years under Nana Addo (from GH₵475 in 2017/18 to GH₵800 in 2022/23).”

“It must be noted that the highest jump in producer price in the last two decades happened under John Mahama in the 2014/15 season (from GH₵212 to GH₵345 – 62.7%),” he added.

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