The Cocoa Marketing Board (COCOBOD) has said the threat by Sefwi Cocoa Farmers to sell their cocoa in Cote D’Ivoire because a COCOBOD license buyer defrauded them was just one of those usually threat the farmers issue but never carry out. Deputy Chief Executive Officer in Charge of Operations at COCOBOD, Mr. Asante Opoku told Adom News “as for that threat it is normal with the farmers but they do not do as such.” The farmers issued the threat in an interview with Adom News because one Nana Agyeman Pimsan, the CEO of a licensed cocoa buyer, West Africa Exchange Company (WEACO) has since 2008 absconded with GHC34,265 being the cost and bonuses on 140 bags of cocoa he bought from the farmers. Besides that money, COCOBOD also sanctioned WEACO and was supposed to have deducted some moneys from WAECO’s margins and pay some percentages of those moneys to the farmers but it has since 2009, when the sanctions were supposedly applied, not paid the farmers that money either. The farmers argued that since WAECO was a licensed buyer from COCOBOD and COCOBOD asked the farmers to sell their produce to WEACO, it had become the responsibility of COCOBOD to bear WEACO’s debts t the farmers. But Mr. Asante Opoku said the farmers made a mistake by letting WEACO buy their cocoa on credit when they could have looked for another buyer with ready cash. “We always tell them never to give out their cocoa on credit because people have absconded with moneys before and it became our debt so we tell them not to take that risk, but these farmers did not heed to our advice,” he said. Mr. Opoku said with respect to those particular bags of cocoa, WEACO never brought them to COCOBOD so there are no margins (money) due WEACO from which moneys could have been deducted to pay the farmers. He said COCOBOD could also not afford to pay the farmers because WEACO owes COCOBOD and its license has been completely withdrawn. “Currently we are looking for the officials of WAECO so even if we will consider paying the farmers we need to bring the WEACO officials to book before we can find ways of getting the farmers their money,” he said. Mr. Opoku stated that whereas it was important to get the farmers their money, it was also incumbent upon COCOBOD to secure state revenue so they could make that double loss in that instance.