The newly sworn-in Chairman of the Ghana COCOBOD, Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyeman has disclosed that the US$1.8 billion Cocoa Syndicated Loan meant for this year\u2019s cocoa production season has been exhausted despite outstanding payments yet to made.<\/p>\n
According to him, it is worrying that the funds were all not invested in the cocoa sector to improve this year\u2019s yield.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe syndicated loan of 1.8 billion dollars that we have hoped to you use for this production year, unfortunately, Mr. President it\u2019s all gone and we are yet finish the purchase\u00a0 of the crop,\u201d he said after the swearing-in ceremony of the Board by President Akufo-Addo.<\/p>\n
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang later clarified on Eyewitness News that \u201c the 1.8 billion dollars that we had syndicated for the cocoa has all been exhausted, meanwhile there are still cocoa out there that we must buy\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we did not use all the money to buy the cocoa. There are still commitments out there that we must take care of. There was indiscipline in using the money,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n
He added that government must work quickly to raise funds to clear the arrears as the production season draws closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt falls on us to immediately try and organize some financing to carry on the process. The decline in production exacerbate the situation just as the farmers are also selling their farms to galamsey. Smuggling at the borders is also a source of great concern. Huge indebted of the sector of the COCOBOD is something that we really have to tackle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Salary of management unthinkable<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Owusu-Agyeman, also described the salaries of management of COCOBOD as unthinkable, hence will be slashed.<\/p>\n \u201cCOCOBOD is a state institution. It cannot be taken out of the context of the overall remuneration structure and within the executive and those ancillary services,\u201d Mr.\u00a0Owusu-Agyeman asserted on Eyewitness News.<\/p>\n Mr.\u00a0Owusu-Agyeman has indicated that even after the planned cut in salaries, some of the top management will still earn more that the highest paid article 71 office holders which is pegged at GHc 22,000.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it is absolutely unthinkable that the gross salary of the Chief Executive Officer should be in the neighbourhood of GHc 70,000 to GHc 75,000 a month, and the net is about GHc 55, 000 to GHc 57,000 a month. If you even discount this by 50 percent, it would still be higher than anybody under article 71 of the constitution,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n The new COCOBOD Chair said the fact that the salary of the COCOBOD Chief Executive Officer dwarfed the President\u2019s salary was problematic given that \u201cat the end of the day, we have to be able to say that the work that is being done is getting reasonable levels of remuneration commensurate with the work that they do, and also within the context of the Ghanaian economy.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that COCOBOD is not even making profits also compounds the issue and makes the cuts necessary, according to\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Owusu-Agyeman.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they were making profits, it would have been a different story, but in the last three to five years, there has been deficit upon deficit. If you are making no profit and we begin to say we want to discipline and trim down expense and what have you, then you have to look at the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Cocoa workers should see the most benefit He also expressed concern about the fact that many cocoa farmers whose activities are being supervised by these managers, have rather become poor in many instances.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw one of the budgets where the amount of money allocated to cocoa farmers\u2019 children amounted to basically GHc 2 million and that is easily\u00a0the total gross salary of the two or three persons at the top. All I am saying is those who do the work should benefit more than anybody else,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n Mr.\u00a0Owusu-Agyeman was sworn in by President Nana Addo as Chairman of the Board, together with other board members.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Lawrence Segbefia\/citibusinessnews.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The newly sworn-in Chairman of the Ghana COCOBOD, Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyeman has disclosed that the US$1.8 billion Cocoa Syndicated Loan meant for this year\u2019s cocoa production season has been exhausted despite outstanding payments yet to made. According to him, it is worrying that the funds were all not invested in the cocoa sector to improve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[121,32,171],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n