A member of the NDC Western North Regional Communications Team, Emmanuel Martey, has dismissed claims made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the government is diverting funds meant for COCOBOD to Goldbod, leading to the alleged collapse of the cocoa sector.
In a statement issued this afternoon, Comrade Martey described the NPP’s allegations as “false and baseless,” urging the public to disregard the claims.
According to him, a recent release from the Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Mr. Jerome K. Sam, clearly explained that the temporary delay in payments to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) was due to a technical glitch, which has since been fully resolved.
Jerome K. Sam explained that COCOBOD has resolved the issue, and funds are now available for LBCs to pay farmers. This clarification was made just yesterday,” Martey stated.
He added that COCOBOD itself first alerted the public about the issue and outlined steps being taken to address it—contrary to the NPP’s claim that the problem was being hidden from the public.
Martey further emphasized that Dr. Randy Abbey and his management team at COCOBOD are working tirelessly to stabilize and revitalize the institution, which, he said, was “inherited in a bleeding state due to years of mismanagement under the NPP government.”
On the allegation that government funds have been diverted from COCOBOD to Goldbod, Martey argued that the facts do not support this claim.
“Throughout the year, COCOBOD has been financing LBC operations while Goldbod also continued its normal business activities. If the government was diverting COCOBOD funds to Goldbod, the effects would have been felt long ago—not only in December,” he pointed out.
He urged cocoa farmers to remain calm, assuring them that the recent payment delays were purely technical and not politically motivated.
“The Board’s spokesperson has confirmed that the issue has been resolved. The NDC government remains committed to protecting the interests of Ghanaian cocoa farmers and the entire sector,” he concluded.
