Member of Parliament for Juaboso, Kwabena Minta Akando, has called on the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government to ensure that finished cocoa products are affordable for all to consume.
His comment follows the President’s call for Ghanaians to consume made in Ghana cocoa products to boost the economy at the 70th anniversary celebrations of Cocobod at the Jubilee Park in Kumasi on Monday, 2 October 2017.
But Mr Akando, reacting to the President’s comment, wants government to do something about the price of finished cocoa products in the country.
Speaking in an interview with Class News, the lawmaker said: “We should better scrutinise our cocoa sector because as I speak to you now. if that is the way it is going to go, then I’m afraid for the cocoa sector of this country because the cocoa sector is gradually collapsing.
“It has never happened in this country that we have cocoa beans and we cannot get money for it. Now Cocobod is reluctant to announce what we have achieved this year because they think if they do, it will go to the credit of the NDC. Now, while they cannot get money to buy Ghana cocoa beans, they are buying cocoa beans from Cote d’Ivoire.
“The issue is not whether we are consuming more cocoa but the issue is the affordability. The cocoa farmer who is producing the cocoa cannot afford to buy one tin of milo. You think the cocoa farmer doesn’t like milo or a bar of chocolate? They like it but then it’s expensive and the cocoa farmer cannot afford it. Cocoa is the backbone of the economy but as it is going now, I’m afraid for the sector.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
