The Ministry of Finance disavowed responsibility for the outstanding arrears, attributing the financial shortfall to administrative mismanagement by COCOBOD’s previous leadership.
Addressing the House, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon. Thomas Nyarko Ampem, explained that COCOBOD had purchased surplus volumes of agricultural inputs far exceeding its fiscal limits between 2021 and 2024, which ultimately prevented the settlement of supplier invoices.
This was after the Offinso South Member of Parliament, Hon. Isaac Yaw Opoku, had demanded that the Ministry of Finance clarify its strategy for clearing outstanding debts owed to businesses that supplied fertilisers and agrochemicals to the Ghana Cocoa Board.
Speaking in Parliament, the Ranking Member of the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee sought an official update regarding delayed payments for goods delivered to COCOBOD’s Cocoa Mass Spraying and Hi-Tech initiatives from 2021 to 2024.
“Speaker, I rise to ask the Minister for Finance what steps the Ministry is taking to pay input suppliers who supplied agrochemicals and fertilizers to Cocoa Board for the Cocoa Mass Spraying and Hi-Tech programs between twenty twenty-one and twenty twenty-four,” the Ranking Member of Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee stated.
Responding, the Deputy Minister stated that “The Ministry of Finance is not responsible for the payment of input suppliers who supplied agrochemicals and fertilizers to COCOBOD,” the Minister told the House.
The Deputy Minister revealed that during the 2021/2022 farming cycle, COCOBOD ordered agrochemicals valued at $455.7 million, despite having a designated budget of just $312.8 million. He confirmed that the inventory from this particular period remained entirely unpaid.
Despite these deficits, the board persisted in buying extra stock throughout the subsequent 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 cycles, consistently exceeding its annual budgetary allocations.
During the 2023/2024 financial year, COCOBOD committed to contracts totalling roughly $668.6 million, despite a restrictive budget of only $76.5 million.
“Ironically, while procurement of fertilizers and agrochemicals was increasing, cocoa production was declining, raising questions as to what these fertilizers and agrochemicals were used for,” he said.
The Deputy Minister concluded by stating that the substantial debts incurred from these suppliers represent just one component of a broader, inherited systemic crisis within the financial structure of the domestic cocoa sector.
This disclosure follows escalating demands from contractors awaiting payment for their involvement in the yield-enhancement and pest-control schemes.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana