President dismisses Cocobod board

President John Atta Mills has dissolved the governing board of cocoa industry regulator Cocobod pending the appointment of a new board, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

Mahama Ayariga said the move was part of a policy of dissolving the boards of all state-owned firms, and replacing them with new personnel.

Cocobod Chief Executive Anthony Fofie, who was appointed at the start of the month, said the move was a normal transitional measure, and would not disrupt Cocobod's work.

"Management is still in place to run the day-to-day operations. Our core business is cocoa production, marketing and processing and these will go on unhindered," Fofie said.

Ghana's 2008/09 cocoa harvest, the world's second biggest after neighbouring Ivory Coast, is lagging some way behind last year's, but Cocobod aims to raise harvests by a third to more than 1 million tonnes by the 2010/11 season .

Robert Poku Kyei, a member of Cocobod's outgoing governing board, said the organisation would carry on functioning.

"The dissolution is an interim measure to enable the government to assess and reconstitute the board ... While this is being done, there is continuity because management is still in place," he said.