Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, has launched a severe critique of the government.
He alleges gross mismanagement of the cocoa sector, which he claims has rendered the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) unattractive to international banks.
According to Dr Forson, this mismanagement has dramatically declined cocoa production over the past eight years.
In his statement, Dr Forson detailed that cocoa production fell from 969,000 metric tonnes in the 2016/2017 crop year—under the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration—to just over 400,000 metric tonnes for the 2023/2024 season.
He claimed that COCOBOD has been forced to roll over its contractual obligations due to its failure to supply approximately 250,000 metric tonnes of cocoa, attributing this shortfall to government mismanagement.
The criticism follows recent remarks by COCOBOD’s Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, who announced that the board would not seek a syndicated loan from international markets for the upcoming 2024/2025 crop season.
Instead, Aidoo indicated that COCOBOD would rely on self-financing and domestic funding for next month’s season.
Dr Forson challenged this assertion, suggesting that COCOBOD’s inability to secure international loans was due to a loss of creditworthiness and credibility.
He argued that the board’s diminished ability to meet its cocoa production targets raised concerns about its capacity to repay bank loans.
The Minority Leader further alleged that COCOBOD had sought a $1.5 billion loan in June 2024 to purchase up to 650,000 metric tonnes of cocoa for the 2024/2025 crop year.
However, he claimed that the proposal failed to attract interest from international banks due to COCOBOD’s weakened financial health and the sector’s decline.
Dr Forson suggested that banks needed to be more sceptical about the board’s ability to produce sufficient cocoa to honour its obligations, leading to the rejection of the loan request.
If Dr Forson’s claims are accurate, it will mark the first time in 32 years that international banks have refused COCOBOD’s request for a prepayment loan for cocoa purchases.
Dr Forson also reported that COCOBOD had incurred substantial losses totalling over GHS 11 billion over the past seven years under the current Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
He listed losses of GHS 395 million, GHS 78.2 million, GHS 320.6 million, and GHS 426 million for 2017 through 2020, respectively.
Additionally, he cited further losses of GHS 2.4 billion, GHS 3.2 billion, and GHS 4.2 billion for 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively.
Dr Forson emphasized that the government’s mismanagement has devastated a sector that has historically been a cornerstone of Ghana’s economy, asserting that the administration has demonstrated a lack of competence in managing the cocoa industry.
