Rejected cocoa smuggled from Ivory Coast – Akandoh: Member of Parliament for Juaboso, Kwabena Minkah Akandoh, has said about 50 per cent of Ghana’s cocoa which was rejected by the Japan entered Ghana from the Ivory Coast.
According to him, the current government has deliberately created lapses at the entry points into the country to enable the foreign nationals smuggle their cocoa into Ghana.
His comments follow reports that Japan has rejected Ghana’s cocoa because of the overuse of chemicals in nurturing the crop.
The Chronicle newspaper reported that Ghana’s cocoa does not meet the standards set by the Japanese Food Sanitation Law.
According to the report, cocoa from the West African country were quarantined due to their health implications.
Mr Akandoh told Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra 100.5FM on Wednesday January 24, that: “Today we are hearing that our cocoa is being rejected by Japan. I can tell you that about 50 per cent of the rejected cocoa are from Cote d’Ivoire and not from Ghana.
“This government thinks that it is not right for people to smuggle cocoa out to neighbouring countries but it is acceptable for those in the neighbouring countries to smuggle into Ghana. That is the thinking of this government and that has caused the rejection of the cocoa by Japan.”
Meanwhile Nana Oboadie Opambuor Boateng II, President of the Concerned Cocoa Farmers Association, has said officials at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) are failing to work to expectation.
According to him, the failure of these officials to work in the interest of farmers, has resulted in some of the problems confronting the sector.
“Officials of the COCOBOD are sleeping on the job and that is very disturbing; this problem should be blamed on the COCOBOD officials,” he said.
“For example, as we speak, they are cutting down cocoa trees but the government says it wants to improve on the yields. How can you improve on the yield at a time you are cutting down the trees for no reasons?
“Going forward, I think we need a policy or a law that will guide COCOBOD when they decide to cut down cocoa trees,” he told show host Forson.
Source: classfmonline.com
