SACK COCOBOD CEO—MINORITY URGES GOVERNMENT-

Addressing the media in Parliament yesterday, the Minority Caucus in Parliament, led by Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who is also the MP for Ofoase-Ayirebi has called for the immediate dismissal of the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Randy Abbey. 

The minority demand according to them is based on the point that government recently announced a 28.6% cut in the producer price of cocoa from GH¢51,660 per tonne to GH¢41,392 per tonne which is equivalent to GH¢2,587 per bag. 

The Ofoase-Ayirebi lawmaker argued that this reduction places an unfair and unjustifiable burden on over one million cocoa farmers already struggling with rising input costs and inflation.

The Minority in Parliament cited gross incompetence, arrogance and intimidation as grounds for the removal of Dr. Randy Abbey following what they described as a failed reset agenda that has crippled the sector.

The MP for Ofoase- Ayirebi, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah again said the government did not require an emergency Cabinet meeting to decide how to pay cocoa farmers.

He argued that directing COCOBOD to immediately pay farmers created the impression that the board had the funds readily available.

Adding that the resetting of COCOBOD’s cocoa trading programme by the current management and the injection of foreign exchange into the economy were the two main causes of the crisis in the sector.

He warned that the price cut could discourage young people from entering the cocoa sector, adding that the Minority would not hesitate to join farmers if they decided to protest.