Nana Oboadie Boateng Bonsu II, the President of the Concerned Farmers Association of Ghana, has expressed concern about the ongoing politicisation of the country’s cocoa sector.

He bemoaned that political interference was impeding efforts towards cocoa sector reforms, asking politicians “to stop meddling in the affairs of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD)” for the sector to witness the required transformation.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani at the wake of the cocoa producer price cut, Nana Bonsu said that: “Political interference often breeds corruption”, worrying that political interference had contributed to the accumulation of debt in the sector, with little accountability.

He cited the procurement of “jute bags worth millions of US dollars by COCOBOD” and questioned the availability of the jute bags, saying that “At the end of the day, citizens don’t even know whether the jute bags exist or not”.

Nana Bonsu noted that those interferences and other issues had contributed to the challenges confronting the sector, stressing that: “Allowing the right people to manage the cocoa sector without interference will help restore sanity and reduce corruption”.

He called on the government to probe debt and alleged mismanagement at COCOBOD by ensuring that culprits were prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to like-minded others.

Nana Bonsu said farmers were the worst affected by the challenges in the cocoa sector, saying despite their sacrifices, energy and resources, farmers often did not benefit significantly from cocoa production.

He called for transparency and accountability at COCOBOD, urging the government to extend the nation’s reset agenda to the cocoa sector which remained critical to the nation’s economic development.

Nana Bonsu also called on the COCOBOD to regularly engage farmer groups in addressing emerging challenges in the sector.