A bill to move the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) from the Ministry of Trade and Industry to the Food and Agriculture Ministry to properly focus on cocoa production as the foremost function of the board is one step away from becoming law after completing its passage through Parliament.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which vests ministerial responsibility over COCOBOD with the Minister of Food and Agriculture, is now awaiting presidential assent after it was passed unanimously by the House on Thursday.
The Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, by a majority decision, recommended to the House for the amendment of Section 39 of the PNDC law 81.
The bill was laid in Parliament on February 27, 2018 by the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, on behalf of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
Background
COCOBOD was established in March 1984 by PNDCL 81 to formulate appropriate policies to facilitate the production, processing and marketing of cocoa, coffee and shea in the country.
The functions of the COCOBOD included production, research, extension, internal and external marketing and quality control of cocoa, coffee and shea.
The Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary, Ben Abdallah Banda, said officials of COCOBOD informed the committee that the intended change in ministerial responsibility under the law is to properly focus on cocoa production.
“In view of the fact for the Minister of Agriculture to have oversight responsibility over the Ghana Cocoa Board and related matters pertaining to the production of cocoa as an agricultural product (sic),” he reported.
He said the committee believed that the amendment was in line with the objective of the government to achieve the target of one million tonnes of cocoa production annually.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House