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‘$48m wasted on jute sacks’ – Majority slams former government over cocoa crisis

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Isaac Adongo addressing the media on February 19, 2026

The Majority Caucus in Parliament has rejected calls for a government bailout for cocoa farmers, attributing the current crisis in Ghana’s cocoa sector to what it describes as reckless borrowing and financial mismanagement under the former Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led administration.

Addressing the media on February 19, 2026, Isaac Adongo, Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga, and Chairman of Finance Committee of Parliament, cited what he described as questionable procurement decisions by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).

“When COCOBOD had 286,000 bails of jute sacks sitting at the ports, they only went and cleared 91,000 of them and left the rest at the ports. Meanwhile, they also had 75,000 bails of jute sacks. So, add that to what is in the port.

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COCOBOD pays GH¢237 million to cocoa farmers

“They had enough to last them another three, four years, but just a few days before they left office, they went and contracted and paid $48 million to bring in 80,000 bails of jute sacks. These (NPP) are reckless people,” he remarked.

Adongo argued that such financial decisions have denied the government the resources needed to properly support cocoa farmers at this time.

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“It is the conduct of these people that denied the government of Ghana the resources to properly take care of you at this point in time,” he said, addressing farmers in the cocoa sector.

His comments come in response to the Minority’s call for a bailout for cocoa farmers, urging the government to cushion farmers against falling international cocoa prices.

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The Minority has proposed that the government release emergency liquidity support to COCOBOD to enable the country’s nearly one million cocoa farmers to be paid promptly.

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Source:
www.ghanaweb.com

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