By Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA
Accra, Feb. 06, GNA—The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has initiated measures to revamp the cocoa industry, including making fertilizer distribution free for farmers, finding alternatives to cocoa syndication, and increasing production volumes through a cocoa rehabilitation programme.
The government is also paying farmers 70 per cent of the world market price and gradually delivering the 333,000 metric tons of cocoa allegedly left undelivered by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
These were contained in a statement signed by Mr Eric Afful, the Chairman of the Economy and Development Committee in Parliament, issued to the Ghana News Agency.
It urged Ghanaians to hold the NPP accountable for their alleged actions, saying, “The NPP sold already procured free fertilizer meant for cocoa farmers in 2016 and 2017 at GH¢80 per bag.
“The opposition NPP is confused and has forgotten its role in the current challenges facing Ghana’s cocoa sector,” the statement quoted Mr Afful, also the NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Amenfi-West, as saying.
It noted that the NPP regime, between 2021 and 2024, allegedly caused the problems now facing cocoa farmers.
The statement cited the example of an alleged $800 million syndication facility taken for cocoa purchases in the 2023/2024 crop year, where about 333,000 metric tons of cocoa were allegedly not delivered, and the money could not be traced in the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD’s) books.
It said, “The NPP does not have the moral right to accuse the current NDC government of the current state of COCOBOD, for which it has started solving the very problems they created and left behind.”
On Thursday, February 05, 2026, the NPP Minority Caucus in Parliament called on the government to immediately release GH¢10 billion owed to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) to enable them to pay cocoa farmers who had allegedly been left in financial distress.
Mr Isaac Yaw Opoku, the Ranking Member on Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs, speaking on behalf of the Caucus, said the government’s failure to reimburse COCOBOD had resulted in the Board’s inability to settle its debts to the LBCs.
The Ofinso South legislator alleged that a serious power struggle between the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD and the Managing Director of the Cocoa Marketing Board had stifled decision-making, with perceived political interference worsening the situation at the top hierarchy of the cocoa sector.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo