The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has reacted to alleged illegal allowances paid to Directors of its Board.
Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Fiifi Boafo, said payment of such allowance was stopped when the Board realised it has no approval.
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, blew the whistle on what he described as illegal payments by the Board.
He claimed GH¢656,200 was used to pay for Board of Directors Fees, Sitting Allowances, Inconvenience Allowances and Overnight Allowances.
These figures are contained in the 2019 Auditor General’s report. Mr Ablakwa described the development as “unpatriotic illegality”.
Reacting to this on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Friday, Mr Boafo said though the payments were made, they did not spend such colossal amount.
Rather, he claimed COCOBOD spent GH¢47,200 on the inconvenience and overnight allowances to some Board members.
On why these allowances were paid, Mr Boafo said it is to mitigate the inconvenience cost of Board members outside Accra.
This notwithstanding, Mr Boafo said the Board has since 2019 stopped paying the allowances since it was not approved by government.