By Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
Former Head of Public Affairs at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Fiifi Boafo, has raised concerns about the government’s handling of cocoa sales, questioning why the crop wasn’t sold when the world market price exceeded $10,000. Mr. Boafo argues that the government’s failure to capitalize on the high prices has resulted in losses for cocoa farmers.
According to him, the current arrangement COCOBOD has is being misrepresented as debt, when it’s actually liability exposure. He also pointed out that the 2024/2025 season projected a revenue of $3.2 billion, implying that the government should have taken advantage of the high prices.
“At the time of announcing the producer price, the world market price was over 10,000 dollars. Why did we not sell at that time when the market price was that amount?” he asked.
Speaking on GBC’s Current Agenda on February 14, Mr. Boafo criticized COCOBOD management for not being transparent about the situation, suggesting that the blame is being shifted to the previous government. He emphasized that the poor cocoa farmer is suffering as a result of the government’s inaction.
“It is unfair for the poor cocoa farmer who worked dutifully on the farms and provided the beans to the license-buying companies to suffer from the mess caused.”
