President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sworn in former Housing Minister, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman as Board Chairman of Cocobod.

The Tuesday ceremony also saw the swearing in of other members of the Board namely Kwame Sarpong, Nana Johnson Mensah, Carlos Ahenkorah, among others.

The President implored the new Board to improve on the yields of the crop since it is the “flagship commodity on the international scale and a source of good livelihood for several generations of Ghanaian farmers.”

He noted the interest of farmers in the crop is waning due to previous government neglect.

Former Cocobod CEO, Dr Stephen Opuni

President Akufo-Addo said his government is committed to reviving the cocoa industry in order to increase production.

“The government and I have made a commitment to raising production levels of cocoa to at least 1 million tonnes, and to process more than 50 percent of our cocoa beans,” he said.

Mr. Owusu-Agyemang’s swearing in comes at a time when the former Chief Executive Officer of Cocobod, Dr Stephen Frimpong, has been interdicted for corruption allegations.

Hackman Owusu takes over the chairmanship board from former Ashanti Regional Minister, Daniel Ohene Agyekum who was appointed by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.