The caucus also demanded an apology from the government and COCOBOD for the delayed payment, which it described as “gross dereliction of duty”.
It further demanded that COCOBOD reimburse the Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) the GH¢10 billion outstanding repayments for cocoa purchased and delivered, and to ensure prompt repayment for subsequent deliveries to avoid the recurrence of such a despicable situation in the future.
“We demand that our cherished cocoa farmers are treated better and with dignity than we are seeing now,” it said.
Speaking on behalf of the Minority Caucus, the Ranking Member on the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Dr Isaac Yaw Opoku, said “cocoa farmers are not beggars and paying them promptly is not a favour but it is an obligation”.
The Minority’s call came ahead of the meeting between the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee to consider issues pertaining to late payment to cocoa farmers.
Release money to LBCs
Dr Opoku, who is also the New Patriotic Party MP for Offinso South, said the Minority Caucus had noticed with grave concern the precarious situation in which the cocoa industry found itself.
He said LBCs had failed to pay cocoa farmers for cocoa beans sold to them since November 2025.
He, however, said the LBCs could not be faulted because money that they had already spent in purchasing and delivering cocoa to COCOBOD had been locked up without reimbursement.
Constrained, he said the LBCs were not risking further monies onto the field, resulting in cocoa farmers being forced to either sell their produce on credit, sell on discount or go back home with their produce unsold.
“The situation portends dire consequences for our cocoa industry and the national economy, knowing what cocoa stands for in Ghana. “COCOBOD and the government must be blamed for failing to reimburse the various cocoa buying companies for purchases already delivered to COCOBOD,” he said.