Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has announced that Cabinet approved a forensic audit into the activities of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) spanning the past eight years.
To ensure accountability and transparency within the cocoa sector, the minister stated that Cabinet directed the Attorney General to commission concurrent forensic audits and criminal investigations into the organisation’s operations during this period.
He disclosed these measures during a press conference on Thursday, February 12, 2026, where he unveiled a series of new reforms for the sector.
Dr Forson explained that the Attorney General’s probe is specifically sanctioned to uncover the root causes of the board’s crippling GH¢32.9 billion debt stock.
The investigation is expected to scrutinise “wasteful and uncontrolled expenditure practices” that have allegedly persisted since 2017.
The minister mentioned several financial “black holes” he claimed depleted the board’s resources.
These include the Jute Sack Scandal, involving reports that 80,000 bales of jute sacks—valued at $48 million—were ordered in 2024 despite a pre-existing stockpile of 150,000 bales already at the ports.
He also pointed to Cocoa Road Contracts, noting that GH¢26 billion in inherited contracts included over GH¢21 billion incurred without budgetary allocations between 2018 and 2021.
He further cited significant losses from “legacy contracts” for 333,767 tonnes of cocoa sold at $2,600 per tonne. Because this price sits far below current farmgate rates, the state continues to incur massive losses on every tonne delivered.
“Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Finance to initiate immediate reforms at COCOBOD to streamline operations and cap costs. Wasteful and uncontrolled expenditure practices must be curtailed immediately,” Dr Forson said.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
