The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) revealed that GH¢1.6 million of its investment has been frozen at Zenith Bank due to the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
During an appearance before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, Ray Ankrah, COCOBOD’s Deputy CEO in charge of Finance and Administration, reported that GH¢200,000 has already been recovered from the initial GH¢1.8 million, with ongoing efforts to retrieve the remaining funds.
“Auditors have noted that this amount was held by Zenith Bank Ghana Limited, maturing in August 2022 and February 2023, and was not redeemed by the time of our audit.
The account manager attributed this to the government’s domestic debt exchange programme.
The auditors recommend that management continue pursuing the recovery of the outstanding amount,” Ankrah stated.
COCOBOD has also justified the rise in its administrative expenses for 2023, attributing it to the rehabilitation of cocoa farms affected by swollen shoot disease.
They explained that the output from these farms does not yet reflect the investment due to their young age.
This comes after the Minority in Parliament highlighted a decline in cocoa production to 655,000 tonnes over the past four years, while COCOBOD’s head office expenditures surged to approximately GH¢3.4 billion in 2023.
