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A newly inaugurated 11-member Board of Directors for the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has been tasked with the urgent mission of revitalizing the struggling cocoa sector. The board is chaired by Dr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and includes key government figures and stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors.
The swearing-in ceremony, held at the Ministry of Finance, was chaired by Energy Minister and Alternate Finance Minister, Dr. John Jinapor. He lamented the decline in cocoa production from over 1 million metric tonnes to around 500,000 metric tonnes, describing the situation as alarming.
The board members include:
Dr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo – Chairman
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson (MP) – Minister for Finance
Dr. Johnson Asiama – Governor, Bank of Ghana
Randy Abbey – CEO of COCOBOD
Alhaji Alhassan Kobina Ghansah
Vincent Oppong Asamoah
Samson Ahi – Deputy Minister for Trade
John Dumelo – Deputy Minister for Agriculture
Alhaji Alhassan Bukari
Nana Charles Owusu
Eric Turkson
Finance Minister Dr. Forson emphasized the economic importance of cocoa and condemned the recent years of “massive mismanagement.” He announced plans to acquire 200 hectares for cocoa plantations and called on the board to address widespread disease outbreaks, especially in the Western Region.
Chairman Ofosu Ampofo described his appointment as a “call to duty” and pledged to “reset, retool, and reimagine” COCOBOD. He also encouraged politicians to engage in farming as a way to inspire the youth.
With production at historic lows, the new board has a monumental task ahead to restore COCOBOD’s integrity and reposition cocoa as a national economic driver.
