The Minority Caucus has called for Dr. Randy Abbey, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), to be removed due to recent reforms in the cocoa sector.
Abbey dismissed this, stating that the issues affecting the business are the result of policies made by the previous administration.
Asserting that the policies undercut farmers and make their situation worse, the Minority has opposed ongoing reforms, such as the decrease in the price of cocoa producers. Dr. Abbey’s dismissal from office has been demanded by the caucus as a result.
On Thursday, February 12, 2026, Dr. Abbey responded to the allegations by stating that the existing cocoa purchase funding arrangement was inherited rather than created under his government.
“The model that we are using today is not a model that I created. It is a model that we inherited, which was used in the 2024/2025 season,” he reiterated.
He clarified that during the 2023–2024 season, the previous government’s long-standing syndicated credit model—which had funded cocoa purchases for 32 years—collapsed.
On December 22, the first tranche touched the COCOBOD account for the first time in the loan’s history. Due to its loan default, COCOBOD requested a haircut and a debt deferment under the DDEP, among other things.
“This funding model came up with the buyers because of the collapse of the syndicated loan,” he said.
Dr. Abbey insisted that his staff evaluated the inherited system after taking office and found it to be unsustainable.
“We came in and we realised that this model was not sustainable. We therefore needed a new model, and that is what we were working towards,” he continued.
Source: newsthemegh.com