Data Scientist and Policy Analyst, Alfred Appiah, has criticised the new COCOBOD bill that was rushed through Parliament under certificates of urgency.
According to Alfred Appiah, the Mahama government continues to pass problematic bills under a certificate of urgency without any proper consultations.
He cited the COCOBOD bill as one rushed through Parliament under urgency without stakeholder input, despite the cocoa sector’s long-term crisis, with the Finance Committee citing an impending September pricing window.
Alfred Appiah’s post highlights a key discrepancy, recounting that the Mahama government promised cocoa farmers 70% of the world market price but the bill replaced the 70% of Cocobod’s gross FOB price from its forward sales and trading performance, shifting risk to farmers.
He further questioned the 30% Cocobod share due to missing recent audited accounts, contrasting it with world prices paid to artisanal gold miners.
The Policy analyst also opposed routing education funds through Cocobod instead of direct producer price increases.
In a post shared on X, the Policy analyst wrote, “Parliament passed the new Cocobod bill under a certificate of urgency. It continues the government’s pattern of passing problematic bills under a certificate of urgency without any proper consultations.
The Finance Committee justified the rush by pointing to the September pricing window. A sector that has been in crisis for decades suddenly could not wait a month or two for farmers and many other stakeholders to be heard.
Start with the price. The President promised farmers 70% of the world market price. The Bill says 70% of the gross FOB price realised by Cocobod for that crop season.
Those are not the same thing. The world market price is set in London and New York. The gross FOB price is what Cocobod actually realises on its own sales, most of which are forward contracts struck months before the season opens. When Cocobod sells forward at a bad moment, farmers wear it. When Cocobod under-delivers on contracts it has already sold and has to roll or buy back those positions, farmers wear that too. We have seen that recently. The Bill converts a promise indexed to the market into a promise indexed to Cocobod’s own trading performance.
Then the other 30%. Cocobod has not made a public case for why it needs that share. Where are the efficiencies from the reset agenda? The last published audited financial statements are from 2020/21. We are being asked to accept a permanent 30% deduction from farmer income on the word of an organisation that has not published its books on its own website in years, and the Bill does nothing to change that. It sets no publication deadline and attaches no penalty to non-publication.
Set the pricing mechanism against gold. ASM operators sell to the Goldbod at world market prices while much of the sector destroys our rivers and forests. We even sometimes give them bonuses. Cocoa farmers, who hold the trees that hold the soil, are taxed at 30% at source. If the state can pay world prices to one and not the other, that is a choice.
I also have issues with the Educational Trust Scheme. This is the Cocobod scholarship, back under a new name.
The Bill spends clause 4 building a wall against exactly this: no social, welfare or community programmes. Then clause 43 walks the scholarship straight back through the exception in clause 4.
The government already has No-Fee-Stress and Student Loan Plus. They are funded from general revenue and open to every Ghanaian, including farmers’ children.
If we have decided cocoa farmers are owed more, pay them more. Put it in the producer price. Money in a farmer’s hand at the buying centre is worth more than money routed through Cocobod’s discretion, operational efficiency and returned to a fraction of their children years later”.
Also, the Minority in Parliament has blown an alarm accusing Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson of repeatedly using Certificates of Urgency to push through tax increases without parliamentary scrutiny.
According to the Minority, the latest increase in the fuel oil levy followed a similar pattern of introducing tax-related amendments on the final sitting day of Parliament under urgent procedures.
Speaking on Citi News Saturday, August 1, Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee, Collins Adomako-Mensah stated, “Since last year, anytime he’s bringing an amendment to increase taxes, he brings it on the last day that we are rising, and he comes to Parliament under a Certificate of Urgency”.
“Not surprisingly, this time around, again, on the last day of rising, he comes back to Parliament under a Certificate of Urgency to push this through because they have the numbers,” he added.
See the post below:
Parliament passed the new Cocobod bill under a certificate of urgency. It continues the government’s pattern of passing problematic bills under a certificate of urgency without any proper consultations.
— Alfred (@CallmeAlfredo) August 2, 2026
The Finance Committee justified the rush by pointing to the September… pic.twitter.com/lvRtWfsgix
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