Parliament approves US$600m cocoa loan

Parliament has voted to pass the $600 million loan agreement for the Cocoa Productivity Enhancement Project.

The vote on the agreement was deferred yesterday [Tuesday] for want of numbers after the Minority raised red flags about the utilization of the proceeds of the loan.

The Minority further intends to write to the lender, the African Development Bank to restructure the agreement.

Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei Asare moved the motion for the passage of the agreement.

Several initiatives such as mass cocoa spraying exercises, agronomic support, and input subsidies were expected to be undertaken under the project which was sourced from the AFDB.

The Minority in the house had raised some concerns that forced Parliament to defer the approval of the loan facility on Tuesday.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu questioned the utilization of US$ 68 million for hand pollination, US$5 million as part of the school feeding programme for the distribution of chocolate and cocoa products and 200 million dollars to promote local processing of cocoa, among others.

READ ALSO: Majority and Minority in a heated debate over $600m loan for improvement of the cocoa sector

But the manager at the Office of the COCOBOD CEO, Fiifi Boafo in a radio interview said further engagements have been held with the Minority in the hope that their concerns would be addressed.

“We do not think the situation is going to remain the same when parliament reconvenes because a lot of the things that were said was out of the fact that some members were not privy to all the relevant information on this whole loan facility.”

“Some of them have enquired after what happened in parliament and explanations have been offered. It is our considered view that being informed about what the whole facility is about and it seeks to help cocoa farmers and the entire cocoa industry of the country when parliament reconvenes, a decision will be made. There is the need for us to go ahead because this money will be put to proper use and will be beneficial to our country”, he added.