COCOBOD to appear before Parliament on cocoa payment

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is due to appear before Parliament for non-payment to cocoa farmers through their respective Authorized Purchasing Companies (LBCs) for the period of the 2020/21 farming season.

First Vice President Joseph Osei-Owusu gave the directive in reaction, after a statement by Kofi Adams, MP for Buem and contributions on the statement by MPs, on the plight of cocoa farmers in the cocoa growing areas of Ghana, for not have received any payments.

The Speaker further ordered the House leadership to schedule board officials to meet with Parliament’s Committee of the Whole to discuss issues.

Mr Adams’ statement was titled: “The plight of cocoa farmers in Buem constituency despite a $ 1.3 billion loan facility to the Ghana Cocoa Board.”

According to Adams, reports from his constituency and other constituencies in cocoa growing areas indicate that cocoa farmers have not been paid by LBCs for their cocoa purchased in the past two months, even though they are. in the third month of the main cocoa. season.

“The Ghana Cocoa Board has secured a $ 1.3 billion facility to purchase cocoa beans for the 2020/21 crop year. This facility was intended to help Cocoa Board make the initial payment for the cocoa beans it purchases from cocoa farmers, ”Adams said.

He added: “Most cocoa farmers in Ghana depend mainly on the proceeds from the sale of cocoa to fend for themselves and for their families and especially to prepare new farmland for the next farming season.

“The proceeds from these sales pay their bills ranging from tuition fees to national utilities to medical bills.

MP for Buem urged the House to intervene to get the Ghana Cocoa Board to release funds to LBCs to enable them to pay farmers for cocoa beans purchased during the reporting period.

“It was Parliament that approved the syndicated facility to buy cocoa for the harvest (2020/21),” Adam said.

Mr Adams later at a press conference, backed by Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, MP for Juaboso, shed more light on the issue, arguing that non-payment to the cocoa farmer has worsened their economic situation over the course of the period.

Deputy Majority Leader and Efutu MP Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, at a press conference, just after Mr. Adams’ press conference, countered calls from Buem MP and refuted Buem MP’s claims .

Mr. Afenyo-Markin challenged Mr. Adams to name the LBCs that had not paid the cocoa farmers, as he (Mr. Afenyo-Markin) said that COCOBOD had settled all the LBCs that had raised certificates of payment.