During his vetting, Eric Opoku, the Minister-Designate for Food and Agriculture, raised concerns about the declining cocoa production in Ghana despite a consistent rise in the expenditures of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). He expressed confusion over what he described as a troubling mismatch between the two trends.
Referencing the Auditor-General’s reports for 2020 to 2023, Mr. Opoku pointed out that in the 2020/2021 cocoa season, Ghana produced 1,047,000 tonnes of cocoa, while COCOBOD’s office expenditure stood at GHS 1.7 billion.
However, in the subsequent year, production dropped sharply to 655,000 tonnes, even as COCOBOD’s expenditure rose significantly to GHS 2.6 billion. The trend continued into the following year, with cocoa production declining further to 530,000 tonnes, while office expenditure surged to GHS 3.4 billion.
Mr. Opoku questioned the rationale behind this discrepancy, suggesting it raises serious concerns about financial prudence in COCOBOD’s administration.
“If you establish this business-investment relationship between office expenditure and cocoa production, every rational person would question whether there has been fiscal prudence or some kind of laxity in managing resources,” he remarked.
He expressed doubts about how his colleagues with expertise in the sector could justify what he described as an “indefensible” situation, calling for greater accountability in the management of Ghana’s cocoa sector.
Story by: Mercy Addai Turkson
