Parliament To Probe COCOBOD CEO

The Minority in Parliament has disclosed their intention to subject the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo to Parliamentary scrutiny following the sector’s back-to-back losses in the past six years.

The sector has failed to at least break even per the COCOBOD Annual Reports and Financial Statements cited by Ghana Facts.

In 2016 there was a GHc199.41 million loss; GHc394.85 million in 2017; GHc78.47 million in 2018; GHc274.52 million in 2019; GHc426.31 million in 2020, Ghana Facts reports.

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson indicated that the sorry state of the sector attests to the leader’s “gross incompetence”.

“The fact that COCOBOD has made huge losses for the last six (6) consecutive years that Joseph Boahen Aidoo has been at the helm of affairs, shows that he is grossly incompetent and totally unfit to manage that important state institution.

“Even more bizarre is the fact that the national annual yield of cocoa has sharply declined from 969,000mt to about 650,000mt under the watch of the failed CEO of COCOBOD. This is the lowest cocoa production volume in the last thirteen (13) years. HE MUST STOP THE LIES AND RESIGN IMMEDIATELY!”

He is also anticipating a probe against the head of the sector for the consistent losses that have characterized his leadership.

“Notice is hereby served, that your gross mishandling of the affairs of the one-time pride of the nation – COCOBOD, which has resulted in these historic losses, and your monumental incompetence which has completely crippled that institution, will soon be the subject of rigorous Parliamentary scrutiny in line with the Minority’s solemn duty to the Ghanaian people.”

The COCOBOD was established in 1947 to facilitate the production, processing, and marketing of good-quality cocoa, coffee, and shea nuts in Ghana.