Sugarcane farmers have run out of patience. The Sugarcane Farmers Association of Ghana has formally invoked the Right to Information (RTI) Act to demand that the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry release the full report of the committee charged with charting a path to the revival of the Komenda Sugar Development Company Limited, a factory that has become one of Ghana’s most enduring symbols of industrial stagnation.
In a letter dated February 19, 2026 and addressed to the Ministry, the Association said access to the report is critical for sugarcane farmers, whom it described as primary stakeholders in Ghana’s sugarcane value chain. The farmers said the report is expected to clarify future production arrangements, land use plans, sugarcane sourcing strategies, financing structures, and any proposed partnerships, concessions, or leasing frameworks that could directly affect farmer participation and income.
The frustration behind the formal demand is rooted in a series of broken deadlines. An Interim Management Committee (IMC) was inaugurated on August 4, 2025 with an eight-week mandate to assess the factory and submit recommendations to the President on steps toward reopening the plant. That deadline elapsed without public disclosure. During the Government Accountability Series on January 21, 2026, the sector minister indicated the six-month IMC report would be submitted by January 26, 2026. Weeks after that stated deadline, the farmers say they remain entirely in the dark about its contents.
Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare had told Parliament that the factory, commissioned in 2016 with a design capacity to process 1,200 tonnes of sugarcane and produce between 112 and 150 tonnes of refined sugar daily, had never operated at full capacity due to compounding technical and financial failures. Plant machinery has not been refurbished since construction, generators and motors need maintenance, and part of the boiler system requires replacement.
The minister stated that the IMC had submitted an interim report and was working on a full report covering the factory’s assets and liabilities, its business viability, and a sustainable raw material supply model. She added that once a transactional advisor was secured and a strategic investor identified, the factory would be operationalised. The ministry has prioritised engagement of a transactional advisor to package the facility for private sector investment, with the minister assuring Parliament that inherited utility debts owed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Ghana Water would be resolved as part of the incoming investor’s cost structure.
For farmers in the Komenda catchment area and adjoining districts, the delay in disclosure is more than a procedural matter. A fully operational Komenda Sugar Factory could create more than 7,500 jobs and cut Ghana’s annual sugar import bill of approximately USD 500 million, easing pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The Association has requested the complete report, any implementation roadmap, transition framework, cabinet memorandum, sugarcane supply agreements, pricing frameworks, and out-grower model details that arise from the committee’s work.
