The NDC Majority Caucus has accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of mismanaging Ghana’s cocoa sector, leaving COCOBOD in a state of financial and operational collapse that required urgent government intervention.
Addressing the media on cocoa sector reforms, Isaac Adongo said, “The reforms here introduced are long overdue, and should have come when the Cocoa sector was on its knees under HE Nana Addo and Dr. Bawumia. Accountability in leadership is a critical trait that builds trust, credibility, and a strong organisational culture to deliver performance. This is exactly what Ghanaians expected when NPP collapsed COCOBOD during the heydays of H.E Nana Addo and Dr. Bawumia.”
Adongo outlined the cumulative impact of the previous administration’s policies, noting that by 2024, COCOBOD had negative equity of approximately GH¢3.8 billion and liabilities exceeding GH¢32.9 billion. Production had steadily declined, operations were inefficient, and defaulted forward contracts had drained the Board’s finances.
He added that excessive debt, poor procurement practices, and failure to rehabilitate diseased farms under the NPP compounded the crisis, leaving farmers and the sector vulnerable to market shocks.
The NDC-led Government has since introduced reforms to stabilise COCOBOD, including debt conversion, restructuring cocoa road liabilities, improving working capital through domestic cocoa bonds, and boosting domestic processing to protect farmer incomes and restore the Board’s commercial viability.
Adongo concluded, “These interventions are guided by the conviction that a financially resilient and well-governed COCOBOD is essential for the prosperity of millions of Ghanaians who depend directly and indirectly on cocoa, especially farmers in rural communities.”
