We will not back COCOBOD’s decision to self-finance purchase of cocoa beans – Minority

The Minority in Parliament says they will not back Ghana Cocoa Board's (COCOBOD) decision to self-finance the purchase of cocoa beans by raising funds from cocoa traders in the domestic market.

This comes after the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo announced that, for the first time in three decades, COCOBOD will not secure offshore syndicated loans to finance the purchase of cocoa beans for the 2024/2025 crop season.

Earlier, the Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson had described COCOBOD’s decision not to borrow from foreign banks as contrived and face-saving.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, August 21, the Minority Leader noted that it is a tactic deployed to hide the fact that COCOBOD is no longer credit-worthy.

Read also: COCOBOD isn’t borrowing from foreign banks because it’s not creditworthy – Minority
“The announcement by COCOBOD that it has taken a bold decision not to borrow from foreign banks to finance cocoa purchases after 32 years is false, unmeritorious, contrived and face-saving,” portions of the statement said.

He explained that the 32-year-old tradition, which has consistently cushioned and provided Ghana’s economy with the most reliable foreign exchange to support the Ghana Cedi, has been destroyed by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.

He noted that the government under the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia leadership has recorded huge losses amounting to over GHS11 billion for seven consecutive years, noting that they recorded losses of 395 million in 2017; 78.2 million- in 2018; 320.6 million - in 2019; 426 million - 2020; 2.4 billion – 2021; 3.2 billion - 2024 2022; and 4.2 billion – 2023.

Backing this stance, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Agric Committee of Parliament, Dr. Seidu Jassaw, said self-financing is not the way to go because COCOBOD is in serious financial crisis.

"This is a dire situation. I was expecting COCOBOD to be forth coming with the information so that Ghanaians can interrogate it but when you try to flip it over and bring a deliberate policy shift when really it is you incapacity and therefore inability to be able to solve crisis, I think that is disingenuous and Ghanaians shouldn't be taken for granted."

On his part, the Farmer General of the Concerned Farmers Association, Nana Oboadie Boateng Bonsu, said the increasing illegal mining on cocoa farms and cutting down of trees for rubber plantations are the reasons for the shortfall in cocoa production.

"There are a lot of challenges involved. When we looked at community challenges, we even approached COCOBOD and came out with a lot of press statements on the fact that galamsey is destroying our lands.

"Then we came up with a programme where we even converted almost two thousand five hundred young people that are doing galamsey to farmers and now some of them are into cocoa.

"But the thing is Parliament had no value for cocoa".