The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has pointed to the award of GH¢23 billion worth of cocoa road contracts between 2023 and 2024 as a significant contributor to the turbulence confronting Ghana’s cocoa industry.

Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, February 18, the Minister took issue with the execution of the cocoa roads initiative, contending that the Ghana Cocoa Board diverted attention from its core mandate of boosting cocoa production. He maintained that the volume of contracts issued within the two-year period dwarfed the Board’s financial strength, placing undue strain on its operations.

“The entire cocoa road programme has been so badly handled that I consider that as one of the basis of the problems COCOBOD is having right now. If in 2023 and 2024 alone you award GH¢23 billion worth of cocoa road projects, that is more than all the syndication you can ever get in a year,” he stated.

In his view, the development reflected a troubling departure from COCOBOD’s primary responsibility to sustain output and support farmers.

“It means COCOBOD lost focus; they were not concentrating on cocoa production, they were focused on procurement. And that is why President Mahama directed that COCOBOD should no longer indulge in cocoa roads but rather focus on cocoa production and marketing, so that our farmers will get the best value for their money,” he added.

Amid the controversy, COCOBOD disclosed that it has disbursed GH¢237 million to cocoa farmers, covering the purchase of 50,000 metric tonnes of beans delivered to the Board.