Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, Eric Opoku, has expressed deep concern over the dire financial state of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and called for an immediate investigation into a $1.5 billion loan syndication.
Speaking on ABC In The Morning, Opoku highlighted that COCOBOD defaulted on the syndication for the first time in its history, signaling a collapse under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
“We could not raise enough cocoa to pay the debt,” Opoku noted, adding that the financial distress forced COCOBOD to seek a bailout from the Ministry of Finance.
According to Opoku, COCOBOD’s six consecutive years of financial losses and inability to meet short-term liabilities have compounded its struggles.
He revealed that COCOBOD received $60 million from the Ministry of Finance in June 2024, but the organization claimed the amount was insufficient to alleviate its crisis.
Opoku said, “We are paying for their incompetence, their mismanagement, and their recklessness,” as he lamented the mounting financial challenges.
The MP warned that COCOBOD’s inability to pay GHS 13.5 billion in cocoa bills after the last season raises serious concerns about its sustainability.
He stated, “If you have a company that is incurring losses for six consecutive years, you don’t need any other evidence to conclude that the company is collapsing.”
He urged the government to probe the syndication and scrutinize the organization’s financial dealings to prevent further collapse.
