Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has officially inaugurated management committees of four of its divisions and subsidiaries – the Seed Production Division (SPD), Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), and Cocoa Clinic.

The inauguration of these management committees is part of efforts to strengthen governance and enhance efficiency and accountability within the organisation.

In his inaugural address, the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Dr Randy Abbey highlighted the importance of the roles of these subsidiaries and divisions in the discharge of the Board’s mandate.

He indicated that the constitution of the committees and their mandate are consistent with President John Dramani Mahama’s Reset Agenda and urged members to give off their best despite the enormity of the task.

"No matter how challenging the task is, we have a responsibility to bring our best together to pool the necessary resources that we can to ensure that we are able to turn things around", he noted.

The Chief Executive encouraged members of the various committees to explore internal resources to develop innovative solutions to the challenges within the cocoa sector. He emphasised the importance of leveraging on internally generated funds to address these funding difficulties rather than relying on external funding.

"There are many things we can change about this organisation which will not require external funding. If we looked deeply enough, we would identify that the bottlenecks offer opportunities for solutions" he admonished.

The chairpersons of the four management committees expressed their appreciation to management for the opportunity to serve and pledged their utmost commitment to diligently executing their mandates. 

The committees are chaired by Professor Gerald A.B Yiran-CHED, Professor Austin Dziwornu Ablo-SPD, Professor Irene Susana Egyir-CRIG, and Dr Randy Abbey-Cocoa Clinic.

These personalities are expected to bring their wealth of experience and expertise to bear on their respective roles and to guide the work of the committees.