The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has attributed the ongoing crisis in the cocoa sector to what he describes as financial mismanagement under the previous administration.
Speaking to party supporters and traditional leaders in the Upper Denkyira West Constituency of the Central Region during his “Thank You” tour, Asiedu Nketiah said that although the former government secured a loan to purchase 800,000 tonnes of cocoa for the 2023/2024 crop season, it bought only slightly over 400,000 tonnes while utilising the full loan amount.
“When it was time for the government to pay the loan they took for the cocoa, they didn’t get the quantity that was required to pay the banks. They then later pleaded for the loan payment be rescheduled to 2025,” he stated.
He further alleged that the previous administration used cocoa bonds to raise additional funds from domestic banks but later failed to meet repayment obligations.
“They used the same cocoa bond to collect lots of money from the domestic bank. As a result of the haircut, the same government came out today that they could not pay the banks. So, when we took over, after our audit, we realized that this was the mess that was left behind,” he said.
According to him, other practices worsened the situation, including the importation of large quantities of jute sacks for cocoa packaging.
“As if that is not enough, the sack for packing cocoa is imported. They used that as a medium to make money, so they awarded many such to their members. So, when we came in, we realised that they had imported many of the sacks, such that we can go for 10 years without importing any more. As I speak to you, COCOBOD has lots of sacks at the port that cannot be cleared,” he added.
Despite the challenges, Asiedu Nketiah assured that the NDC government is implementing pragmatic measures to stabilise the sector and restore confidence in cocoa financing.
Meanwhile, the Nifahene of New Obuasi, Nana Kofi Arkoh, appealed to the NDC chairman to draw government attention to the stalled Ayanfuri–Dunkwa road project.
According to the chief, construction of that road and several others in the constituency came to a halt after the exit of the Mahama-led administration.
Describing Asiedu Nketiah as a man of his word, Nana Kofi Arkoh urged him to ensure that work resumes to ease the burden on residents in the area.
