Wonder Madilo, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communications team, has accused the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration of plunging Ghana’s cocoa industry into severe financial distress, arguing that poorly managed financing arrangements have weakened the sector’s credibility and contributed to the current payment crisis.
Madilo pointed to what he described as years of misinformation surrounding cocoa financing, claiming that syndicated loans secured in the name of the sector were expended without delivering the promised benefits to cocoa-growing communities.
He alleged that key development projects expected to be implemented under those financing arrangements failed to materialise, even though the debts remain on the books of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
According to Madilo, the resulting loss of confidence has made it increasingly difficult for COCOBOD to access external funding, forcing authorities to depend on limited domestic resources to sustain the sector.
“…there has also been a lot of distortion, lies, and other misinformation. All the money taken by the previous government under syndicated loans was spent, and even promises to invest in cocoa-growing areas were not fulfilled. The rest of the funds are gone. COCOBOD has lost creditworthiness, so now we have to look for funding internally.”
Meanwhile, COCOBOD has acknowledged delays in payments to farmers and assured stakeholders that steps are being taken to address the challenges. The board says measures are underway to ease funding constraints and restore normal payment processes.
