The minority caucus in Ghana’s parliament in a press conference have criticized Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for their decision to reduce the initial producer price by 28 percent.
On 12 February, 2026, Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, Honorable Kojo Oppong Nkrumah led a section of the minority caucus in parliament as they addressed concerns involving the government’s verdict to opt for a reduction in the initial cocoa producer price tagged at a fee of GHc3,625.00.
“The new managers of the cocoa sector have reset the trading programme of COCOBOD, we [past government] used to sell about 70 percent on forward sales and 30 percent on spot. They argued that was an incompetent approach and decided to change it, now they are selling about 70 percent on spot.
“That is why today, as prices have dipped, they are struggling and saying that the price they had announced ends up being higher than their current prices on the market,” He stated.
Honorable Kojo Oppong Nkrumah further added that, COCOBOD’s quest to restructure the cocoa trading programme has been a failure hence, the need for the President of Ghana, H.E to fire the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Dr. Randy Abbey for failing to be competent.
“This action to announce a 28 percent reduction in the price amounts to a hair cut of about 28 percent on close to one-million Ghanaian cocoa farmers. Already, when you go into cocoa growing areas, I was in my areas just a few days ago, a lot of young people are already mot going into cocoa farming because they say the older folks who went into it, they don’t see a transformation in their lives.
“it is left with the old, elderly and poor on the farms. When you do this, what is going to happen in subsequent years is that, even those young ones will not be going into the cocoa production. If they won’t sell their cocoa farms to galamsey operators, God knows what they will do,” Hon Oppong asserted.
The former information minister indicated that, “all of this has come about because of the reset that COCOBOD did and that is why respectfully, we ask the president to relieve the COCOBOD C.E.O of his responsibilities at this point in time.”
His address then requested that, “the government, in previous times when cocoa prices fell and the government absorbed the shock and protected the cocoa farmer, the NDC government should absorb the cost of what they have done and protect the cocoa farmer and restore at least GHc3,625 that they promised. This GHc2,800 or so they are promising is totally unacceptable. Already, we are receiving messages from cocoa farmers who say that if this is what is going to happen, they are going to demonstrate on the street and if they do, we, the minority caucus will join them.”