The Spokesperson for former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has intensified criticism of the government over the recent reduction in cocoa producer prices, insisting that the current crisis is not solely the result of international market conditions but largely due to policy indecision.
Reacting to the downward review of cocoa prices for the 2025/2026 crop season, Mr. Aboagye argued that government decisions must prioritize the welfare of citizens, especially cocoa farmers whose livelihoods depend on stable pricing.
He stressed that governance goes beyond market forces, adding that decisions must ensure convenience and protection for citizens.
“You know government’s decisions are always balanced on the scale of several other factors. If government is supposed to work entirely with what the market conditions are, we will not have free education, we will not have free health care, we will not have subsidies, even electricity and others governments subsidize.
“Government’s decisions are ultimately supposed to ensure convenience for the citizens and that’s what the cocoa farmers are asking for.”
Dennis Aboagye rejected the assertion that the price reduction is purely due to falling international cocoa prices.
“First of all, let’s put it on record, the current situation is not entirely as a result of the international market price. The current situation has a lot more to do with government’s own indecision in the trade,” he stated, while accusing the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) of misrepresenting the facts.
He questioned whether COCOBOD would have been blamed if it had sold cocoa beans when global prices peaked between $11,000 and $13,000 per tonne, arguing that forward sales and timely trade decisions could have cushioned farmers.
He further revived the long-standing debate over COCOBOD’s $1.8 billion syndicated loan secured in 2016 under the then National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
According to him, the loan was largely expended without corresponding cocoa supply before the change of government.
“This NDC government who is talking about debts is largely responsible for the Cocoa Board debts. You remember this government took a syndicated loan of $1.8 billion in 2016. By the time they were leaving office, the entire amount had been used without supplying the cocoa beans.”
He claimed that when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government under former President Nana Akufo-Addo assumed office in 2017, it inherited the debt burden but did not reduce cocoa prices despite a drop in international prices at the time.
“Do you remember that somewhere in 2017 and 2018, the international price for cocoa dropped? Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP could have used that excuse to reduce the cocoa price from $475 downwards. They didn’t do it; they maintained it,” he said.
Mr. Aboagye argued that the previous administration had to borrow to stabilize COCOBOD’s finances and protect farmers, rather than pass the burden onto them through price cuts.
He cautioned against turning the issue into a partisan battle but admitted that frustrations among farmers are growing.
“Now it is NDC government versus the farmers and that’s why we are trying very hard to resist that temptation.”
Source: Elvisanokye.com
