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Absorb Cocoa Price Shock and Sack COCOBOD CEO - Minority demands Amidst Sector Crisis

The Ranking Member on Economy and Development, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has launched a blistering attack on the government’s handling of the cocoa sector crisis, accusing the Mahama administration of inflicting a "28.6% haircut" on nearly one million Ghanaian farmers while demanding the immediate dismissal of COCOBOD CEO Dr. Randy Abbey.

Date Created : 2/13/2026 : Story Author : Dominic Shirimori/Ghanadistricts.com

Speaking against the backdrop of an emergency Cabinet meeting that directed COCOBOD to pay farmers, Oppong Nkrumah dismissed the directive as an exercise in futility, arguing it wrongly presumes the funds are available and the Board is deliberately withholding them.

“That announcement is of no effect because it presumes that COCOBOD has the money and was deliberately refusing to pay the farmers,” he said. “Is that what was going on? No. Unless you are saying the money was available and COCOBOD was refusing, what the government should be doing specifically is instructing that emergency liquidity assistance be released.”

Calls for CEO’s Removal

Oppong Nkrumah explicitly called on President Mahama to relieve Dr. Randy Abbey of his responsibilities, attributing the current distress directly to management decisions taken under the current CEO .

“All of this has come about because of the reset that CocoBod did,” he asserted. “That is why, respectfully, we ask the President to relieve the Cocobod CEO of his responsibilities at this point in time.”

His call aligns with growing pressure on the President, including a formal petition from the Good Governance Advocacy Group Ghana accusing Dr Abbey of “poor leadership choices, incompetence, financial mismanagement, and arrogance” . While the National Cocoa Farmers Association has stopped short of demanding his head alone, it has insisted that if the President deems Abbey unfit, he must “clean the entire house” at COCOBOD, including his deputies .

'Absorb the Shock' – Minority Demands Price Restoration

At the heart of Oppong Nkrumah’s submission is a demand that the government absorb the shock of global price declines rather than transferring the burden to farmers.

He revealed that the new producer price of approximately GH¢2,587 per bag—confirmed by civil society groups as the revised rate—represents a devastating reduction from the GH¢3,625 per bag promised for the 2025/2026 season .

“We are asking the government that in previous times when cocoa prices fell and the government absorbed the shock and protected the cocoa farmer, the NDC government should absorb the cost of what they have done and restore at least the 3,625 that they promised,” he said.

He warned that the economic impact extends beyond the farmgate. “When you manage an economy with artificial adjustments, the real effect will be realised on cocoa farms, in transport fares, in electricity bills, in school fees.”

Trading Model Reset Blamed

Oppong Nkrumah identified two primary causes for the crisis. First, he accused the current managers of abandoning COCOBOD’s traditional trading model of 70% forward sales and 30% spot sales, reversing it to 70% spot. “That is why today, as prices have dipped, they are struggling,” he said.

Second, he cited the “artificial injection of forex” into the economy, which he argued has overvalued the cedi and made Ghanaian exports relatively more expensive.

Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has attributed the crisis to inherited pricing missteps and adverse exchange rate movements, revealing that COCOBOD has been selling cocoa below the full cost of production of US$6,400 per metric tonne . However, Oppong Nkrumah dismissed the inheritance argument, reminding farmers that the NDC had campaigned on delivering GH¢6,000–7,000 per bag.

Desperation in Farming Communities

The Ranking Member painted a grim picture of the cocoa heartlands, warning that youth are already abandoning the sector and that the new price cut may push even established farmers over the edge.

“I was in my areas just a few days ago. A lot of young people are already not going into cocoa. It’s left to the old, elderly poor on the farms,” he said.

His warnings echo those of the Licensed Cocoa Buyers Association (LICOBAG), which recently revealed that unpaid farmers have begun arresting Purchasing Clerks, and that desperate farmers are selling their cocoa lands to illegal miners (galamsey operators) for quick cash . The Centre for Democratic Movement has similarly warned that the price cut directly fuels galamsey by making cocoa farming unprofitable .

'We Will Join the Streets'

Oppong Nkrumah concluded with a direct threat of mass action. “Already we are receiving messages from cocoa farmers who say that if this is what is going to happen, they are going to demonstrate. If they do, we in this focus will join them on the streets.”

With 50,000 tonnes of cocoa unsold at the ports and an estimated 300,000 tonnes requiring urgent financing, the cocoa sector remains on a knife-edge . As the government defends its crisis management, the Minority is firm: absorb the shock, or face the farmers on the streets.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanadistricts.com

GENERAL

Absorb Cocoa Price Shock and Sack COCOBOD CEO - Minority demands Amidst Sector Crisis

Date Created : 2/13/2026 : Story Author : Dominic Shirimori/Ghanadistricts.com

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