The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament has warned the government to refrain from linking its flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo to its vile propaganda to deceive cocoa farmers.
The Minority said it has received information that activists of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) are going round cocoa growing areas telling farmers that government paid them GH¢475 per bag of cocoa for this crop season because Nana Akufo-Addo had failed to sign his part of an agreement with international banks that would have released more money to be paid to cocoa farmers.
The Minority, at a press conference yesterday, led by the spokesperson on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said that vile propaganda linking Nana Akufo-Addo to the bad cocoa price being given to cocoa farmers is a clear indication that the current government has taken cocoa farmers for granted and was cheating them through the payment of unrealistic prices
“The NDC are attempting to shift the blame for the slave-wage cocoa prices onto the NPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo which is totally unacceptable,” Dr Afriyie Akoto said, stressing that the low prices of cocoa that have constantly been given to cocoa farmers by this government is a direct result of the fact that proceeds from cocoa exports are riddled with fraud and corruption perpetrated by this government.
He said all things being equal, farmers should have been paid at least GH¢600 per bag of cocoa instead of the meager GH¢475 that has been offered by the government.
He said Nana Akufo-Addo should not be linked with this incompetent government, reiterating the NPP’s promise of paying realistic prices to cocoa farmers.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it must be stated for the records that Nana Akufo-Addo will pay remunerative producer price of up to GH¢600 instead of the lowly amount of GH¢475 that the NDC government has imposed,” the spokesperson said, stressing that the price of GH¢475 is overdue.
The minority also could not fathom why the government, through the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), could spend a whopping GH¢838 million this year to import and distribute fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals to cocoa farmers in addition to $150 million that was budgeted for cocoa roads in the country.
According to the minority, the staggering GH¢838 million being used to import chemicals for cocoa farmers this year can be used to run the Ministries of Food and Agriculture and Fisheries and Acquaculture Development for the 2016 financial year.
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