Gov’t Ignoring Stakeholders on COCOBOD Bill – Kwabre East MP Cries Foul

Member of Parliament for Kwabre East, *Hon. Akwasi Gyamfi Onyina-Acheampong*, is urging government to suspend work on the *COCOBOD Bill 2026* and subject it to broader stakeholder engagement before passage.

The bill, currently before Parliament, seeks to overhaul the governance, financing and producer pricing system of Ghana’s cocoa sector. One of its major provisions is a guarantee that cocoa farmers will receive *at least 70% of the gross Free-on-Board, FOB, price*.

But the Kwabre East MP says rushing it now will do more harm than good.

Speaking to journalists in Parliament, Hon. Onyina-Acheampong argued that cocoa sector issues are too complex to be dealt with in a hurry. They cover pricing, regulation and the role of multiple industry players, and therefore need proper consultation.

*“These are matters that need more time, more days to deal with, but this current government has ignored that and is planning to go ahead and pass the COCOBOD Bill. How?”* he quizzed.

According to him, key groups have been left out of the process. He named cocoa farmers, civil society, Licensed Buying Companies, academia, the Producer Price Review Committee, chocolate manufacturers, Chief Farmers and other relevant bodies as stakeholders who must be engaged first.

The MP accused the Majority Caucus of trying to use its numbers to force the bill through without proper input. He challenged them to show any evidence of consultations held with farmers, LBCs, the Price Review Committee and Chief Farmers across the regions.

*“So far, none has been done,”* he stated. He is therefore calling on government to *“put the bill on ice”* for now to ensure the final law reflects ground realities for Ghana’s over 800,000 cocoa farming households.

Hon. Onyina-Acheampong also criticized the process. The bill was introduced under a *certificate of urgency*, and MPs were reportedly seeing the full 129-clause document for the first time on the day of consideration.

He said the timing was wrong, especially as Parliament had already sat for 12 to 13 hours since 8:00am, including a meeting with the Speaker.

*“If they knew that this was urgent and cocoa farmers were really important, what prevented them from bringing this bill immediately we started this meeting,”* he asked, describing the approach as poor prioritization.

Despite his concerns, the MP said the Minority will still support work on the bill in the interest of farmers.