The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Bekwai, Ralph Poku-Adusei has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government and the current leadership of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), led by CEO Dr Randy Abbey, of mismanaging the sector and prioritizing luxury expenditures over the welfare of cocoa farmers.
In a February 23, 2026, interview on Abusua FM, Poku-Adusei detailed what he described as a pattern of poor decisions that have left farmers unpaid and deceived despite earlier promises.
The MP refuted efforts by the NDC to pin the ongoing cocoa crisis primarily on the previous NPP administration and its COCOBOD leadership. He argued that after more than a year in power, with auditors having reviewed operations, handing-over notes, and activities, any genuine malfeasance from the past would have been exposed and acted upon.
“If you had no intention of robbing poor cocoa farmers and the matter escalating into a national scandal while attempting to divert the issues, wouldn’t you have exposed the NPP if truly the things they allege happened under the previous administration was true?” he questioned.
Poku-Adusei maintained that the current problems stem from the NDC’s own handling of the cocoa sector.
Poku-Adusei criticized the NDC for relying heavily on international market fluctuations to explain the crisis, while ignoring domestic mismanagement.
He noted that while cocoa prices are indeed set by global dynamics, the government’s approach including politicizing the cocoa issues to gain power has worsened farmer hardships.
“But when they were engaging in all of these we cautioned them to properly consult but they refused and promised to hike the price to GHC6,000,” he said, referring to campaign pledges that were not fulfilled, with producer prices instead reduced to GHC2,600 per bag.
He particularly condemned the retrospective application of the price cut, calling it unfair and deceptive.
“Their attempt to blame world prices is neither here nor there because the effective date of any price is August and not now. When a price is fixed, it takes prospective effect and not retrospective effect. The cocoa farmers who are crying over prices today are farmers who supplied their cocoa months ago but are now being told of a reduced price because of a fall in world market prices. Is that how you deal with poor farmers? The truth is they are deceiving the farmers,” Poku-Adusei stated.
He accused the government of channeling funds elsewhere rather than settling even the reduced amounts for past supplies.
The Bekwai MP highlighted what he saw as misplaced priorities under Dr Randy Abbey, including purchases of large pickups, luxury SUVs, and other expenditures like allowances and per diems, while farmer arrears remain outstanding.
“They have not seen the reason to address all of these issues but have found the need to buy large pickups and luxury SUVs. Today when Randy Abbey wants to visit a cocoa farm, his chair is carried in a dedicated car,” he said, framing these as examples of extravagance amid farmer suffering.
Poku-Adusei described these decisions as effectively cheating farmers, especially given the NDC’s “juicy promises” during opposition to raise prices from around GHC3,600–3,650 to GHC6,000.
“They knew cocoa price was determined by world price but went ahead to make juicy promises to the farmers. After telling these lies to attain power they are now focusing on buying cars,” he added.
He questioned why resources could not be redirected to payments instead of vehicles and luxuries.
Representing a constituency where approximately 60% of the population are farmers, many in cocoa, Poku-Adusei stressed daily monitoring of COCOBOD developments and described the situation as “bad” due to poor management.
“If they were truly committed to the affairs of the farmers, they would’ve at least settled the GHC2,600 that they have reduced the price to,” he urged.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com
