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Workers of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) will not get any bonuses this year in spite of the bumper harvest in the cocoa sector

The Board Chairman, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman explained that the Board increased the salaries of the over 900 staff by 10 percent thus a call for bonus will be “very unreasonable”.

Workers of COCOBOD are up in arms with management over the non-payment of bonuses since the NPP came to power.

The workers, singling out the Board Chairman, accused him of usurping the authority of the Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Boahen Aidoo and called on President Akufo-Addo to remove him.
 
They also, among other things, said Mr Owusu-Agyeman does not listen to their concerns and accused him of not having their interests at heart.

In response to the workers’ concerns on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem Thursday, the COCOBOD Board Chairman said the attempt by the staff to malign him was borne out of his transformational agenda at the state-owned firm.

“If you work and you don’t get profit,why do we pay bonus? We want to do the best for the cocoa industry. The demands are simply unreasonable,” he bemoaned.

Mr Owusu-Agyeman expressed shock at the conduct of the staff.

“COCOBOD needs 500 staff but we inherited over 900 staff and we decided to sack 400 but President Akufo-Addo pleaded with us to retain them. We have even increased their salaries by 10 percent so what again do they want,” he asked.

The COCOBOD Board Chairman said his outfit was nursing a GH¢1.9 billion debt thus overspending their budget will spell doom for the entity.

Mr Owusu-Agyeman urged the staff to be efficient in their work to ensure they get bonuses in the coming years.