The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has described as “mischievous” claims by the Minority in Parliament that government is stealing from cocoa farmers.
Rather, according to the Manager-in-charge of the office of the Chief Executive officer of COCOBOD, Fiifi Boafo, the minority while in government squandered $400 million met for the purchase of cocoa.
His comment comes after the Minority at a press conference Monday accused government of shortchanging farmers by not increasing the price of cocoa.
They argued the foundation laid by the former National Democratic Congress (NDC) government was good enough for an increase from the ¢475 per bag to be expected.
Sampson Ahi, an NDC Member of Parliament from Bodi, a constituency in a cocoa-growing Western region said the NDC government went for a $1.8bn loan in October 2015 to improve cocoa fortunes after setting a 800,000 tonnes target for the 2015/2016 crop season.
He noted that the former NDC government before exiting power in January 2017 left more than $400million in revenue from cocoa.
The ¢475 per bag pegged in October 2016, Hon. Ahi said, is simply “not enough” for the 2017 farming season.
But on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem Tuesday, Fiifi Boafo said the Minority has no moral right to call for an increase when in fact their government left nothing in the coffers.
He indicated that, when they took office, not even GHC1 was in the coffers of COCOBOD in spite of the supposed $400 million the NDC clams it left.
Fiifi Boafo said though the money was meant for cocoa purchase, the NDC did not account for what it used the money for soon after exiting power.
He described as unfortunate how the Minority is bent on sabotaging government despite the positive feat they have chalked in the cocoa sector in just nine months.
Fiifi Boafo implored farmers to disregard the vile publications and comments aimed at tarnishing the image of government.
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