Mismanagement of COCOBOD under NPP a “crime against humanity” – Dr. Otokunor
The Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness, Dr. Peter Otokunor, has argued that the level of mismanagement at COCOBOD under the erstwhile NPP administration should be considered a “crime against humanity,” as it sunk the institution into complete bankruptcy.
He backed the government’s decision to not only reform COCOBOD, but also to prosecute individuals involved in creating “this mess.”
Speaking in an interview on Joy News on Monday, Dr. Otokunor explained that the recent crisis in the cocoa sector was not caused by global market conditions alone but a deliberate and “systematic financial misconduct” by the previous management under the NPP.
“COCOBOD bought cocoa sacks that could last for 6 years, stored them in the warehouse, brought them to Ghana, stored them in the warehouse and subsequently, every other year after they made that purchase, they imported cocoa sacks, huge amounts of cocoa sacks, and left them at the port without clearing them because the duties were not being paid
“In 2022 they imported cocoa sacks, they didn’t clear them and it’s at the port. 2023 they imported the same and it’s at the port. 2024 they imported the same and it’s at the port. And just four days to the elections of 2024, they issued another contract worth $48 million to import another batch of the sacks. Meanwhile, the 2021 sacks are the sacks that we have used throughout the period,” he revealed.
When pressed on whether the government could definitively prove mismanagement in court, Dr. Otokunor asserted that there is enough evidence to successfully prosecute all the persons involved.
“Oh yes, you can say that. The evidence is available. If you don’t have evidence, what are you investigating?” he questioned. “Who does that to his country? Who causes this kind of mess and you think this is not criminal?”
“President has directed them; Cabinet has taken a decision. They’ve moved in very aggressively and they are doing that investigation. I agree with the chief who said that they must be prosecuted. Indeed, such levels of crimes are crimes against humanity and must not be left to stand and so they will be prosecuted,” he assured
On the debt situation at COCOBOD, Dr. Otokunor revealed that the institution’s total debt portfolio currently stands at GHC32.9 billion, asserting that the situation is worse than the headline figure suggests.
“If you look at the unaudited balance sheet, you would realise that when you sum the assets of COCOBOD; everything including their chairs, their cars, their offices, Cocoa Hospital, Cocoa Clinic, all those things, and you look at the debt they are owing, COCOBOD will still be running deficits of about GHC3.9 billion. That’s how bad it is.” He said. “If COCOBOD was any institution, any organisation, any asset being sold on the market, nobody would buy it. It has completely collapsed. It is bankrupt.”
He further accused the past NPP administration of “squandering” the Cocoa Stabilisation Fund which was set up by the previous NDC government to protect the cocoa sector from global market shocks, claiming that COCOBOD’s management under the past NPP administration used the Fund for “other things.”
“The cocoa stabilisation fund was set up by the previous President Mahama’s administration so that we would use that to cushion the price fluctuations if there were any. Our friends [the NPP] came, then they scrapped that fund and just like most of the stabilisation funds that were created under the President Mahama administration, most of them were utilised for other things,” he claimed.
He revealed that the current government has already paid about GHC4 billion of the cocoa bills inherited from the NPP administration and will continue paying although it is an “unplanned expenditure.”
“Cocoa bills under the previous administration were rescheduled to 2025, and when we inherited government, we needed to pay those amounts yet you already have a GHC32.9 billion debt sitting there. Then you have to go and pay those obligations. Last year we paid some GHC4 billion. This year we are going to pay those cocoa bills and will continue paying. These are unplanned financial burdens that the government is already absorbing, coupled with the grand slump in global prices for cocoa,” He noted.
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