Joseph Boahen Aidoo
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo has given the assurance that the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government will revive the defunct West African Mills Company (WAMCO) located in Takoradi.
The cocoa processing company was shut down after Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) allegedly stopped supplying cocoa beans to the company due to accumulated debts running into millions of cedis.
There have been series of protests by the workers but all have yielded no results.
It would be recalled that in July 2016, three workers of the distressed company died in a ghastly accident that occurred at Komenda Sefwi, near Beposo on the Cape Coast-Takoradi highway.
The deceased were among a group of 22 workers of the company who were travelling from Takoradi to Parliament House in Accra to listen to the Finance Minister Seth Terkper answer questions related to their company.
They were also to follow up on their petition to the government about their plight in the company and whether or not assets of WAMCO were being sold as speculated.
The COCOBOD CEO announced this when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo visited the Essikado Traditional Area to interact with the chiefs and people in the area.
Mr Boahen-Aidoo revealed that the defunct cocoa processing company would resume production in September, this year.
“I assure you all that by September WAMCO will commence operations.”
Speaking at the durbar of Chiefs and people of Essikado Mr. Boahen Aidoo maintained that WAMCO will be restored to its former glory in a month’s time.
He noted that WAMCO, which was once mass employer in the Sekondi – Takoradi metropolis, was in financial distress and could not get raw beans to process for close to five years.
He pointed out that the government would establish two other processing factories at Apowa in Ahanta West and Sefwi Wiawso in the Wiawso Municipality in collaboration with some investors to process raw cocoa beans.
He called on Ghanaians to consume more cocoa for a healthier living since it had immense health benefits.
He noted that the move would also help to provide ready market for the processing factories.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Essikado-Ketan who is also the Minister Nominee for Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, emphasized government’s commitment to revamping Ghana’s railway sector to transform the economy.
The Omanhene of Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nkwtsiah V, expressed gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for appointing some westerners in his party as ministers.
He called on him to help restore integrity in governance in order not betray the trust Ghanaians had reposed in him.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Essikado