The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) spent more than $140 million on jute sacks it did not need between 2022 and 2024, according to the new acting Chief Executive Officer, Randy Abbey.

Dr Abbey disclosed this in a television interview on TV3 on Sunday, May 25, 2025.

He said that COCOBOD continued to import large quantities of jute sacks over a three-year period, despite having huge stockpiles already in storage.

He explained that these procurement decisions worsened the institution’s financial problems and raised concerns about how contracts were awarded and supervised during that period.

“In the 2021/2022 season, COCOBOD had over 94,000 bales of jute sacks in storage but still went ahead to order an additional 75,000 bales at a cost of more than $45 million,” Dr Abbey said.

“Each bale contains 300 sacks, and your projected production determines how many you need. That year, we used just over 50,000 bales, which means the existing stock was more than enough,” he added.

Despite this, another 75,000 bales were imported the following year at a similar cost, although over 111,000 bales were already in storage.

Dr Abbey said only about 17,000 of the newly imported bales were cleared, with the rest left at the Tema Port.

In the third year, COCOBOD imported 56,000 more bales, spending over $30 million. Less than 1,000 of those bales were cleared. “The rest are still sitting at the port,” Dr Abbey added.

“The National Investigations Bureau is currently trying to verify and trace them.”

He also disclosed a $48 million transaction made in December 2024 involving irrevocable letters of credit for 80,000 bales, even though COCOBOD had more than 70,000 bales in storage and over 110,000 bales still uncleared at the port.

“With irrevocable letters of credit, the money is automatically transferred once the shipping documents are presented,” he said.

“That means the $48 million will be paid whether we need the sacks or not.”

Dr Abbey described the situation as financially damaging and said COCOBOD’s current debt stands at nearly ¢33 billion, some of it dating back more than four years.

He noted that the financial mismanagement has made it difficult for cocoa farmers to benefit from the recent rise in world market prices.

“We must be more careful with how we spend, so that the farmer can get more than what they are getting now,” he said.

Dr Abbey also revealed that COCOBOD owes about $400 million to agrochemical suppliers, and in some cases, the inputs paid for have not been delivered.

He said efforts are underway to improve procurement and tighten operational procedures at the district level.

According to him, the goal is to reduce waste and redirect funds to benefit cocoa farmers.

Dr Abbey confirmed that the 2025/2026 cocoa season is expected to begin in August, a month earlier than usual.

He added that new producer prices will be announced before the start of the season.