The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has defended its decision to suspend cocoa road projects nationwide, revealing that the board was burdened with contracts worth around GH₵26 billion—most of which were awarded without approved budget allocations.
Speaking in Accra during an interaction with the Cocoa, Coffee, and Shea Nut Association and the 2025 National Cocoa Award winners on Friday, December 19, 2025, COCOBOD CEO Randy Abbey explained that the scale and structure of these road contracts made their continuation financially unsustainable.
“COCOBOD signed cocoa roads contracts worth GHS26 billion. In some years, particularly 2018–2019, the Public Procurement Regulatory Commission (PPRC) made no allocation for roads, yet COCOBOD went ahead to award contracts amounting to GHS220 million and $99 million,” Mr. Abbey said.
He added that the situation worsened between 2019 and 2020, when additional contracts valued at GHS231 million and $1.157 billion were approved—again without budgetary provision.
“So, within a space of three years, COCOBOD awarded road contracts valued at about GHS21.5 billion. The question is: how were these contracts going to be paid for based on COCOBOD’s revenue? This is the problem,” he noted.
The CEO highlighted that these unfunded contracts have intensified COCOBOD’s financial strain, contributing to losses from rollover arrangements and a mounting debt stock estimated at GH₵33 billion.
“How do you award contracts when there is no allocation? This is why government has asked COCOBOD not to embark on road projects,” he said.
Mr. Abbey stressed that cocoa revenues would have been better directed to directly improve infrastructure in cocoa-growing communities rather than accumulating unfunded liabilities, offering fresh insight into the financial pressures facing COCOBOD as the board seeks to stabilise operations and prioritise farmer support.