The Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association (GNACOFA) stated that the scholarships that were meant for the children of cocoa farmers always went to the children of politicians.
President of the Association, Stephenson Anane Boateng, says almost 98 percent of the scholarships that were meant for their children went to politicians, with only 2 percent reaching them.
He made the disclosure during an interview on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM.
Mr Boateng was responding to a question regarding the state of scholarships that were meant for the children of cocoa farmers.
”The scholarship scheme was something meant for the children of cocoa farmers; however, 98 per cent of the scholarships went to the children of politicians. Only 2 per cent comes to us. That was terrible. Later they aimed to have scrapped it until it was reinstated again.
”The scholarships and chemicals that were meant for cocoa farmers did not come from government sources or the Common Fund but from the cocoa we sell. Those who buy our cocoa are the ones who allocate the money for the scholarship scheme and other benefits for farmers. But when these resources are allocated, our leaders will allocate them for the agriculture sector. Part of the resources are meant to train cocoa farmers, but later you find out that the training only benefits people who are not farmers, who later work in other sectors such as the banks.”
Stephenson Anane Boateng noted that government after government has failed cocoa farmers, and the National Farmers Day celebration has been hijacked by politicians.
He complained that persons who are usually selected for the awards are not known as farmers but are favourites of politicians.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana