The Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Randy Abbey, has opened up about some of the alleged rot he uncovered at the nation’s cocoa production regulator upon assuming office.
Speaking during a recent interview as part of his three-day working tour of the Western North and Western South Cocoa Regions, Dr Abbey disclosed that about 200 containers of supplies intended for cocoa production, which were reportedly handed over to him, are now missing.
He indicated that the shocking part was that the previous administration kept importing the same items every year, despite not having cleared shipments from the previous years.
“When I came, I was told that COCOBOD had about 200 containers of agrochemicals and jute sacks at the port. Upon investigation, we found that the containers comprised shipments from 2022/2023, 2023/2024, and 2024/2025.
“These shipments were supposedly at the port, but they have incurred demurrages and have even been auctioned. Even though records show 200 containers, we cannot locate them. The National Investigation Bureau is currently investigating the matter. The so-called 200 containers are not in COCOBOD’s stores. We are still trying to determine how many containers are actually available and what their contents are,” he explained in the Twi dialect.
The acting CEO added that because the previous administration failed to return the containers, COCOBOD and its suppliers have now been blacklisted by international shipping lines.
“Shipping lines have blacklisted COCOBOD and its suppliers because the failure to return the 200 containers is affecting them. Shipping lines deliver items using their containers and expect them to be returned. If you don’t return them, it disrupts their operations. As a result, they have blacklisted COCOBOD and its suppliers,” he said.
Dr Abbey further revealed that the previous administration had signed a contract worth about $48 million to import the same items it had failed to clear, for the 2025/2026 cocoa season.
“The sacks they imported two years ago were not cleared. The ones imported this year are still there, and before they left office, they awarded a contract for sacks for the 2025/2026 season.
“What they did was escrow $48 million from our account at the Ghana International Bank in London to pay for the 2025/2026 sacks. These are some of the issues we have uncovered and continue to discover every single day.”
During his tour, Dr Randy Abbey was visibly furious when he discovered a large amount of imported cocopeat abandoned at the Sefwi Boako cocoa station in the Sefwi Wiawso Municipality of the Western North Region.
He questioned why managers of the cocoa station would import such a large quantity of cocopeat, used in cocoa cultivation, when the cocoa season was virtually over.
In a video that has since gone viral, the acting CEO could be seen lambasting the managers.
“Were you the one who said you needed X number of bags before they brought them here? Or were you just sitting there, and they dumped it on you?
“So, it’s not as if you needed it and made a requisition. Did you make a requisition? You were just sitting there, and they dumped it on you. And you obviously don’t have a need for it this year, do you?” he questioned.
He added, “So these things will just sit here till next season. What kind of nonsense is this? Because when you did that report, you said you had completed 90%. Exactly. So why would they bring all these things here? Why are we importing things we don’t need, only to dump them here?”
Watch videos of his remarks below:
The CEO of COCOBOD, Dr. Randy Abbey fumes after discovering a large amount of imported cocopeat abandoned at the Sewhi Boako cocoa station in the sewhi Wiaso Municipality of the Western North Region. pic.twitter.com/66BCkG7Ovz
— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) April 24, 2025
