The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Randy Abbey, has rejected the Minority caucus’s calls for his resignation due to recent reforms in the cocoa sector, asserting that the issues plaguing the industry are a result of decisions made by the previous administration.
The Minority has condemned the ongoing reforms, including the decrease in the cocoa producer price, claiming that these actions undermine farmers and exacerbate their difficulties. Consequently, the caucus has called for Dr. Abbey’s ousting from his position.
In response to these allegations on Thursday, February 12, 2026, Dr. Abbey stated that the current funding model for cocoa purchases was not established by his administration but was inherited.
“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 remarked.
He elaborated that the long-established syndicated loan model, which had financed cocoa purchases for 32 years, collapsed during the 2023/2024 season under the previous government.
“For the first time in the history of the loan, the first tranche hit the COCOBOD account on December 22. COCOBOD had defaulted on its loans and, under the DDEP, asked for the deferment of the debt and a haircut, among others. That is how the syndicated loan collapsed, and that is how this funding model came up with the buyers,” he explained.
Dr. Abbey asserted that upon taking office, his team evaluated the inherited system and concluded it was not viable.
“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 concluded.
