TEMA, Ghana, 14 February: Abraham Koomson, Secretary General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), has expressed deep concern over the continued abandonment of the cocoa silos at Tema, describing the situation as a missed opportunity for Ghana to strengthen its control over one of its most important economic commodities.
According to him, Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, anticipated the challenges the country would face in the global cocoa market and therefore initiated the construction of the massive silos as a strategic buffer against international price manipulation.
The project, he noted, was designed to enable Ghana to regulate supply during periods of low global prices and release stocks when prices improved, thereby protecting national revenue.
The silos, constructed in the 1960s at an estimated cost of £8.5 million, had a storage capacity of approximately 200,000 tonnes. They formed part of Kwame Nkrumah’s broader industrialisation and agricultural self-sufficiency agenda, at a time when Ghana accounted for more than 40 percent of global cocoa production but remained vulnerable to external market forces.
However, following the 1966 coup that removed Nkrumah from office, the project was abandoned before it could achieve its intended purpose, eventually becoming what many critics described as a “white elephant.”
Speaking on Ahotor FM’s Yepe Ahunu programme, Mr. Koomson stressed that Nkrumah’s broader vision went beyond exporting raw cocoa beans. He pointed to initiatives such as the establishment of West African Mills to process cocoa locally, adding value and strengthening economic independence.
Reacting to the recent controversies surrounding the Ghana Cocoa Board, he emphasised that cocoa and gold remain the backbone of Ghana’s economy and therefore require careful, transparent, and strategic management.
Mr. Koomson called on government authorities to revisit the abandoned infrastructure and explore ways to revive or repurpose it in line with national economic interests, arguing that the country cannot afford to neglect assets that were originally conceived to safeguard its economic sovereignty.
LISTEN TO ABRAHAM KOOMSON IN THE AUDIO BELOW:
Story by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh(#RomeoWrites✍️)/Ahotoronline.com | Ghana 🇬🇭