Dr. Randy Abbey, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has denied calls from the Minority caucus for his dismissal over recent cocoa sector reforms, claiming that the industry’s issues come from decisions made by the previous administration.
The Minority has criticized current reforms, such as the decrease in the price of cocoa producers, claiming that the actions deprive farmers and make their situation worse. As a result, the caucus has called for Dr. Abbey to be removed from office.
In response to the allegations on Thursday, February 12, 2026, Dr. Abbey stated that the existing cocoa purchase funding scheme was inherited rather than created under his government.
“The model that we are using today is not a model that I created. It is a model that we inherited, which was used in the 2024/2025 season,” he stated.
He explained that the long-standing syndicated loan model, which had financed cocoa purchases for 32 years, collapsed during the 2023/2024 season under the previous government.
“For the first time in the history of the loan, the first tranche hit the COCOBOD account on December 22. COCOBOD had defaulted on its loans and, under the DDEP, asked for the deferment of the debt and a haircut, among others. That is how the syndicated loan collapsed, and that is how this funding model came up with the buyers,” he said.
Dr. Abbey insisted that his staff evaluated the inherited system after taking office and found it to be unsustainable.
“We came in and we realised that this model was not sustainable. We therefore needed a new model, and that is what we were working towards,” he added.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Joseph Asare
