Get rid of COCOBOD, it’s serving a bad purpose – Dr. Yamson

Chairman of the National Economic Dialogue, Dr. Ishmael Yamson has said the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is currently not serving a good purpose, hence should be abandoned.

Speaking in an interview on TV3’s Hot Issues, Sunday, March 9, Dr. Yamson criticised COCOBOD for its huge debts and financial inefficiencies recently, stating that the political interference, lack of transparency and integrity by leaders of COCOBOD is a major factor in COCOBOS’s poor performance.

Drawing parrels between Cote D’Ivoire’s cocoa production and Ghana, Dr. Yamson questioned if the institution is providing value to the country if it cannot meet its production targets whereas Cote D’Ivoire with no COCOBOD is producing more cocoa.

“Cote D’Ivoire does not have COCOBOD yet they produce 2.2 million tonnes. So does COCOBOD deliver value to Ghanaians at all and do we need them at all in the first instance.

“If you ask me, my private sector instinct tells me that get rid of COCOBOD.

“If COCOBOD had been transparent, if they had had people of integrity managing COCOBOD, if we didn’t have the political interference, if we had the right people managing COCOBOD, I am sure that COCOBOD would have serve a good purpose today,” Dr. Yamson said.

He contended that COCOBOD currently does not serve the interest of farmer, rather the institution retains the majority of revenue from cocoa sales.

“Nkrumah did not set up COCOBOD to come and lose money…If you read the seven-year development plan, COCOBOD had a strategic plan, we needed to protect the interest of farmers and hence COCOBOD.

“Now, COCOBOD does not work in the interest of farmers. You just do the calculation.

“Why can’t we pay 60 percent of the 13,000 dollars to the farmer? …the farmer is not getting the right price,” he asserted.

Dr. Yamson noted that cocoa farmers are selling their produce to Cote D’Ivoire because they are offered better prices.

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