It has now been established that the total net indebtedness of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) left behind by the erstwhile Mahama administration stood at GH¢10 billion.
Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, who disclosed this, stated that measures have been put in place to settle the debt.
Mr Aidoo, a former Member of Parliament for Amenfi East and a former Western Regional Minister under the Kufuor administration, was appointed as the CEO of COCOBOD by President Nana Addo Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in February this year.
He replaced Dr. Opuni who was appointed by former President Dramani Mahama.
Addressing senior journalists at a press soiree in Accra last Tuesday, Mr. Aidoo noted that the debt has been a major challenge for him as the new CEO of the COCOBOB but stated that measures have been put in place to pay.
“But we have started settling this debt and by the end of September we will ensure that all these debts are paid.
“We can’t even pay bonuses to our workers because we are settling debts; we have also cancelled end-of-year anniversaries because we don’t have money to finance such events. We need to focus on paying this debt,” he noted.
The other problem inherited, according to him, is the fall in the tonnes of cocoa beans the company used to produce.
He pointed out that under former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration, the NPP government was producing 1 million metric tonnes of cocoa but now it has reduced to 778,000 metric tonnes.
“And we are also looking to restoring the glory of the cocoa sector,” he assured.
“There are other issues we must fix but these are the two major ones I think we must deal with immediately to strengthen the sector.”
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