The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) spent over $140 million on jute sacks that were unnecessary between 2022 and 2024, as stated by the new acting Chief Executive Officer, Randy Abbey. In a television interview with TV3 on Sunday, May 26, 2025, Dr. Randy Abbey revealed that COCOBOD continued to import large quantities of jute sacks over a three-year period despite already having significant stockpiles in storage.
Dr. Abbey explained that the procurement decisions made during that period exacerbated the institution’s financial issues and raised concerns about how contracts were awarded and monitored. “In the 2021/2022 season, COCOBOD had over 94,000 bales of jute sacks in storage but still ordered an additional 75,000 bales at a cost of more than $45 million,” he said. “Each bale contains 300 sacks, and your projected production determines how many you need. That year, we used just over 50,000 bales, meaning that the existing stock was more than sufficient.” Despite this, another 75,000 bales were imported the following year at a similar cost, even though there were already over 111,000 bales in storage.
Dr. Abbey mentioned that only about 17,000 of the newly imported bales were cleared, while the remaining bales were left at the Tema Port. In the third year, COCOBOD imported an additional 56,000 bales, spending over $30 million, but less than 1,000 of those bales were cleared. “The rest are still sitting at the port,” Dr. Abbey added. He also revealed a $48 million transaction that took place in December 2024, which involved irrevocable letters of credit for 80,000 bales. This occurred despite COCOBOD already having more than 70,000 bales in storage and over 110,000 bales still uncleared at the port.
“With irrevocable letters of credit, the money is automatically transferred once the shipping documents are presented,” he said. “That means the $48 million will be paid whether we need the sacks or not.” Dr Abbey described the situation as financially damaging and said COCOBOD’s current debt stands at nearly ¢33 billion, some of it dating back more than four years.
He noted that the financial mismanagement has made it difficult for cocoa farmers to benefit from the recent rise in world market prices. “We must be more careful with how we spend, so that the farmer can get more than what they are getting now,” he said. Dr Abbey also revealed that COCOBOD owes about $400 million to agrochemical suppliers, and in some cases, the inputs paid for have not been delivered.
He said efforts are underway to improve procurement and tighten operational procedures at the district level. According to him, the goal is to reduce waste and redirect funds to benefit cocoa farmers. Dr Abbey confirmed that the 2025/2026 cocoa season is expected to begin in August, a month earlier than usual. He added that new producer prices will be announced before the start of the season.
By: Mohammed Ali
