We will shakeup Management of COCOBOD when we come – Mahama assures cocoa farmers

The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has promised to do a shakeup in the Management of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) if he is elected President in December.

John Mahama says leadership at the COCOBOD have been spending monies meant for cocoa farmers, subjecting the farmers into poverty.

Citing the administrative expenses of the Board in 2023 for instance which cost nearly GHC3.4billion, John Mahama noted that his administration will make changes at the board to bring in people who will prioritise the interest of the farmers.

Speaking at a durbar of chiefs at Kwakuanya in the Dormaa West constituency of the Bono region Tuesday, September 10, 2024, John Mahama said the administrators of Ghana’s main cash crop have left the farmers with bones, something he will ensure will be reserved when elected.

“They are at the COCOBOD Headquaters spending monies meant for farmers. Can you imagine the COCOBOD headquarters administrative expenses [for 2023] alone is 3.4 billion cedis? What at all are they doing there? They have reduced the poor cocoa farmer to eating only bones. We will cause a rapid change of the current situation,” he indicated.

“When we come, we will do a shakeup at the COCOBOD for those who have allowed Ghana’s cocoa which held the economy since the days of Gordon Guggisberg to Queen Elizabeth’s British rule to the time of President Nkrumah and all our presidents to collapse, to pack themselves somewhere for good people to come and take over,” he reiterated.

Per the Auditor General’s Report, COCOBOD’s head office expenditure surged to approximately GH¢3.4 billion in 2023, something the Minority in Parliament raised concerns about.

In an interaction with journalists in Accra Wednesday, August 07, 2024, the Ranking Member on the Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs Committee of Parliament, Eric Opoku, expressed some concerns.

“In 2023, cocoa production declined further to 655,000 but office expenditure did not decline. It increased to GH¢3.4 billion. And the Auditor General reports to Parliament that this is largely due to headquarters expenditure. So COCOBOD head office alone is expending GH¢3.4 billion, while the entire Ministry of Agriculture is expending something around GH¢2.7 billion. Isn’t that strange?” he quizzed.

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has explained what accounted for the expenditure.

Source:onuaonline.com