Mr Frank Kwabena Annoh-Dompreh, the Minority Chief Whip has called on the government to be sensitive enough in addressing the plights of cocoa farmers in the country by paying them.
He said the Caucus was unhappy that the government had shown no concern about the welfare and security of the cocoa farmers, saying that instead of paying the farmers, the government rather spent GHC117 billion in 2026 to stabilize the Ghana cedi.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh, also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam Adoagyiri noted that the government could have used GHC11 billion of that amount to settle the farmers, an indication that the government was not sensitive to the plight of the cocoa farmers.
“Even Mustapha Gbande, an official at the Presidency made a scathing remark betraying his own party when he said an amount of GHC20,000 is given monthly to all 267 constituencies across the country by the NDC”, The Minority Chief Whip stated, when interacting with cocoa farmers at Wamfie in the Bono Region.
He said it was unfortunate that the government had decided to purchase four new aircraft, though the minority insisted that the nation bought two aircraft, saying that “The cost of just a single aircraft can settle the payments of the cocoa farmers”.
Nonetheless, Mr Annoh-Dompreh assured the cocoa farmers that the Minority would persist, amplifying the concerns of the cocoa farmers until the government paid them.
He called on the farmers to remember to vote for Mr Paul Apraku Twum Barimah, the former MP for Dormaa East in the Election 2028.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh explained that the caucus was in the area to listen to the concerns and help tackle the plight of the farmers.
Dr Isaac Yaw Opoku, the MP Offinso South and Ranking Member on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, regretted that the government failed to fulfil its Election 2024 promise of increasing the cocoa producer price to GHC6,000.
“An amount of $400 is paid as living income differential to every ton of cocoa beans purchased by foreign buyers to be given to Ghanaian and Ivorian cocoa farmers and to recognise the two countries for being the leading producers of cocoa”, he alleged.
Dr Opoku said unfortunately the government failed to pay the money to the farmers, alleging further that an additional amount of $300 was paid to the producer country for the quality of cocoa beans produced but “these monies never got to the farmers”.
“The government is unable to contract the cocoa syndicated loan because it hasn’t been able to pay the previous loan contracted”, he stated.
He said that the recent pronouncement by the government of releasing some funds for the payment of the cocoa farmers was false and called on the government to publish payments made to industry players in the cocoa value chain.
Dr Opoku urged the farmers to avoid the temptation of releasing their farmlands for galamsey activities, saying that the next NPP administration would implement better policies in the cocoa sector.
Mr Kwabena Boateng, the MP for Ejisu also called on the government to pay serious attention to the concerns of the farmers and pay them to enhance their livelihoods.
GNA
