The Head of Public Affairs of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has hit back at the Minority in Parliament over their criticisms of the government for failing to pay arrears on cocoa beans purchased in the 2024/2025 cocoa season.
He said this when speaking on Kasapa FM’s Morning Show, Ghana Kasa, on Tuesday, 10th February, 2026, Jerome Sam said that the minority and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lack the moral authority to speak on the welfare of cocoa farmers, given their “dismal” track record in sector management.
The minority had, at a press conference, called on the chief executive officer (CEO) to pay cocoa farmers.
This stance, the minority insists, is very “pretentious.”
”We are shocked that the minority are pretending to love cocoa farmers now,” he said.
He pointed to gross inefficiencies in past rehabilitation efforts, highlighting that a specific $350 million loan intended to rehabilitate 156,400 hectares of cocoa trees was misused.
”When they secured a loan of $ 350 million for the rehabilitation of 156,400 hectares of cocoa trees, they only rehabilitated 40,000 hectares…by the time they left power, they had only rehabilitated 40,000 hectares,” Sam stated.
He added that an additional GH¢700 million was taken from COCOBOD to bolster the initiative, yet the targets remained largely unmet, leaving farmers to deal with ageing and diseased trees.
He further revealed that the current administration inherited a staggering financial burden tied to cocoa road contracts.
Sam continued that between 2019 and 2021, the previous administration committed to contracts worth GH¢21.5 billion for cocoa roads, leaving behind a direct debt of GH¢4.7 billion.
”If COCOBOD had not gone through this [debt struggle],” Sam noted.
He therefore demanded that the minority bow their head in shame, as they had no right to talk about the problems at COCOBOD currently.
