The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has refuted claims that it owes Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs), insisting that all payments due have been fully settled and that reports suggesting otherwise are false.
Addressing the issue, Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Jerome K. Sam, said some cocoa farmers have been told by LBCs that delays in payment are due to COCOBOD’s alleged failure to pay them.
He stressed that these claims are untrue, emphasizing that COCOBOD does not owe any LBC.
According to Mr. Sam, COCOBOD has paid every pesewa due to all Licensed Buying Companies, adding that there is no situation in which LBCs would have purchased cocoa on behalf of COCOBOD without being paid.
“There is no way LBCs would buy cocoa for COCOBOD and not be paid, thereby making it difficult for them to pay farmers,” he stated.
He further explained that LBCs primarily work with off-takers, international companies that independently select the LBCs they wish to partner with.
These off-takers pay the LBCs directly, and such transactions do not pass through COCOBOD.
Mr. Sam noted that in the past, there were fewer reports of LBCs owing cocoa farmers, which has led some people to wrongly attribute the current situation to governance or leadership under President John Dramani Mahama and COCOBOD Chief Executive Officer, Randy Abbey. He maintained that governance is not the cause of the issue.
He highlighted that the NDC government has taken deliberate steps to curb cocoa smuggling by farmers, including opening the cocoa season early in August 2025 to purchase cocoa stocks that farmers had at home without buyers.
The government also introduced fair pricing policies after realizing that smuggling to Côte d’Ivoire and other neighboring countries was driven by price differences.
As a result, Ghana currently offers some of the best cocoa prices in the region.
Mr. Sam disclosed that based on these initiatives, the government projected a cocoa output of 650,000 metric tonnes for the season.
From August to December alone, about 500,000 metric tonnes were purchased, leaving just over 150,000 metric tonnes to be bought in the remaining seven months, an indication, he said, that COCOBOD is on the right path.
He urged Ghanaians to disregard rumors that COCOBOD owes Licensed Buying Companies, reiterating that the claims are unfounded and that the cocoa sector is being managed effectively.
