The pension scheme is set to begin in October
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has announced that the much-anticipated cocoa farmers pension scheme will start in October 2021 for cocoa farmers in Ghana.
He said that the scheme, once fully operational, would help farmers enjoy a decent retirement benefit after years of active farming, adding, “This adds to the several fantastic strides this government hopes to leave behind.”
Mr Boahen Aidoo made this announcement at the signing ceremony of a $1.5 billion syndicated loan facility for the 2021/2022 cocoa crop season.
The President of the Cocoa Farmers Association, Mr Anane Boateng Stephenson, on the other hand, asked COCOBOD to leave cocoa farmers to work on their own welfare.
“Cocoa farmers are not COCOBOD workers. We are a private enterprise,” he underscored.
He further indicated that the association objects to the ongoing piloting registration of the cocoa farmers pension scheme.
“When the president launched the programme, he did not inform farmers he was going to pilot the pension scheme process,” Mr Anane stated.
He added that COCOBOD is not a regulatory body and that it does not support that COCOBOD run a pension scheme for cocoa farmers.
When asked what was the way forward, Mr Anane stated that cocoa farmers “are waiting till October to see if it will be implemented as they have stated.”
Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in November 2020, announced that the government would establish a pension scheme for cocoa farmers when he was speaking at a durbar of chiefs and people of Santrokofi during his tour of the Oti Region.
It could be recalled that in December 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the ‘Cocoa Farmers Pensions Scheme’ at a ceremony in Kumasi.