Calls for COCOBOD CEO’s dismissal neither here nor there – Dr. Kwabena Bomfeh

February 23, 2026

Lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) and CEO of CenCES, Dr. Kwabena Bomfeh, has kicked against calls for the dismissal of COCOBOD Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ransford Abbey, describing them as “neither here nor there.”

According to him, instead of calling for dismissals, “aggrieved farmers” should call for a comprehensive stakeholder engagement to address the current cocoa sector crisis.

His comments follow a series of public protests by some cocoa farmers last week, calling on the government to reverse its decision after cutting the producer price of cocoa to about GHC2,587, with the Minority caucus in Parliament calling for the dismissal of Dr. Ransford Abbey citing what they described as his incompetence as CEO.

Speaking on Joy News’ AM Show on Monday, February 23, Dr. Bomfeh emphasized the need for a broader conversation about the cocoa industry, which has been a cornerstone of Ghana’s economy since colonial times, “rather than focusing on individual accountability.”

“I believe that we need to have a comprehensive conversation about the cocoa sector. This is one crop that has a lot of benefits and a lot of advantages and has been a major supporter of our economy from colonial times to date,” he stated.

Dr. Bomfeh further criticized what he described as the “lack of proper consultation” with farmers before implementing the price cuts, arguing that proper conversations with farmers about the need for the price adjustment could have saved the public from “all these protests.”

“The decisions to deal with whatever changes they had were done without consulting the farmer properly, the stakeholder engagement that should have taken place did not otherwise some of the people lamenting and complaining would not be seen doing that,” he argued.

“And even if they did that, posting such a stakeholder engagement minutes and records would expose them on what exactly they agreed on. So to the extent that nobody is able to bring any such stakeholder engagement report to contradict what some of them are saying shows that it doesn’t exist and going forward I think that we need to have a better conversation, because how do you take decisions about the yield the farmer has obtained in terms of the pricing without involving the farmer and some of the institutions and the players?” he added.

Drawing on expert analysis, Dr. Bomfeh suggested that current cocoa policies are not fundamentally different from those of previous administrations.

On the announced reforms to the cocoa sector, Dr. Bomfeh commended the current administration’s decision to process 50% of cocoa beans domestically, but cautioned against announcing strategic plans prematurely.

“My problem with that based on historical records is how we announce our plans ahead of their occasion or their implementation,” Dr. Bomfeh warned. “The Chinese have quietly accepted that they are being undermined and worked themselves quietly moving. You go to America they say ‘China man’s might.’ Today the China man’s might has turned into something else America is afraid of. They’ve relocated a lot of their companies to China and now that country has come of age to show what power it has.”

“Sometimes we need to hold our thoughts a bit at the implementation level and let the implemented program speak for us than announcing ahead of time that look we are going to retain 50% of our beans here. You are telling the western world to come after you. They’ve come after every leader of our continent who has made it known that we want to be truly independent and truly self-sustaining,” he added.

H reiterated that the government’s proposed reforms to the cocoa sector, if successful, will lay the foundation to a booming sector, urging the public especially “aggrieve cocoa farmers” to support the reforms and “push for consultations” instead calling for the head of COCOBOD’s CEO.

“The calls for the head of the COCOBOD chief Executive for me are neither here nor there. I don’t think that it is one of the things. Let us call for a broad stakeholder engagement. Let’s involve the farmers. Let concessions be made. And in politics, there’s no shame in concession when our intentions are innocent and altruistic,” he urged.