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Cocoa Abrabopa holds AGM, urges COCOBOD to strengthen its productivity programme
Cocoa Abrabopa Association (CAA), a farmer-based organisation has held its 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) with a call on the government and COCOBOD to strengthen its Productivity Enhancement Programs and make available timely release and distribution of subsidized inputs to farmers.
They also appealed to the government to make cocoa farming attractive for the youth to engage in it.
Held in Danyame in Kumasi, the annual event brought together over four thousand cocoa farmers from the five cocoa-growing regions in Ghana namely Ashanti, Eastern, Brong Ahafo, Western South, and Central Regions.
Updating shareholders on the association’s performance for 2022, the Council Chairman of the Association, Ismail Pomasi argued the delay of money from COCOBOD since three months ago which is to enable them to pay the farmers.
For him, the 2023/2024 cocoa season commenced three months ago, however, the local Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) were yet to receive Seed Funds from COCOBOD to enable them to buy the Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ beans; this they described as a worry to the Association.
“We want the frequent delay in the release of the Seed Fund from the Ghana Cocoa Board to LBCs to be re-looked at because the challenge is collapsing the operations of indigenous LBCs therefore reducing supplies of certified cocoa volumes demanded by CAA’s customers” he stated.
Mr Pomasi made a passionate appeal to COCOBOD and the government to strengthen its Productivity Enhancement Programs and initiate a more concerted effort to combat galamsey activities in cocoa-growing regions in Ghana.
In its quest to improve premium payments to beneficiary members, he said the Association had introduced a Digital Payment System (MoMo) in 2021 to serve members devoid of inconveniences and offered them the opportunity to make bulk payments to members within the shortest possible time in a more transparent manner.
“We have further introduced the Living Income Sustainability Initiative for the economic development of members, their households, and communities and that’s the surest blueprint to cocoa sustainability. It is for this reason that CAA has partnered with one of the finest customers Alfred Ritter GmbH, a chocolate manufacturer of the Ritter Sport brand of chocolate products to undertake varied degrees of interventions ranging from easy transport system for moving cocoa beans from farm to the Society, farming equipment and inputs, access to potable drinking water and on-farm additional livelihoods to improve the living conditions of members at RITTER SPORT designated areas”.
“It is gratifying to note that since the inception of the initiative in 2022, a total of 22 tricycles, 30 units of SOLO mist blowers, 4 Mechanized Boreholes with washroom facilities, Agrochemical Inputs Shop and a 2 Snail Farming start-up packages have been commissioned and handed over to beneficiary groups in Bogoso, Tarkwa Aboso, Bonsa and Amantin operational areas all in Western South Cocoa Region of Ghana” he stated.
Sustainability Manager, Wilfred Apiung, on his part, stated that, despite the challenges, the Association was committed to improving the livelihoods and incomes of cocoa farmers through gender equity and sustainable cocoa production across the six cocoa growing regions.
“We are committed to improving the income levels of farmers to bring them above the living income benchmark. We look at some cost components that can reduce their burden and support them,” he said.
The Operations Manager for CAA, Roland Obosu in his remarks urged the farmers to let the increase in premium payment to motivate them to produce quality cocoa that would meet the standards, help increase local sourcing and contribute to the local economy.
“The increase in premium payment for you, our farmers, is part of the Association’s commitment towards developing thriving and resilient communities within our 39 operational areas,” he said.
Acting Executive Secretary for CAA, Patrick John Van Brakel mentioned that these initiatives were to ensure all the farmers conform to the newly introduced Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System and the new Rainforest Alliance Standard. This, he said, is to position the Association ahead of any International Standards.
The leaders of the farmer groups recounted that the sustainable farm training and support from Cocoa Abrabopa has been beneficial to their cocoa production.
They were grateful to CAA for introducing and teaching them alternative livelihoods.
BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY
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Focus on more pressing issues like Galamsey, not hate speech – Ellen Ama Daaku to Mahama
An aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,Ellen Ama Daaku has advised President John Dramani Mahama to shift his attention from social media hate speech to more urgent national issues such as illegal mining.
Speaking in an interview, she noted that the President’s recent comments about tracking the IP addresses of people who spread hate speech were unnecessary.
According to her, President Mahama must first define what he considers to be hate speech before seeking to punish people for it.
Ms. Daaku argued that the President himself had benefitted from hate speech and social media attacks in the past when he was in opposition.
She said even during his time in government, he described his opponents and their tribesmen in unpalatable terms, which later drew complaints from former President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
She stressed that harsh criticism of leaders on social media should not automatically be considered hate speech, adding that former leaders, including former President Nana Akufo-Addo had all been subjected to it.
“He is only feeling what Nana Akufo-Addo went through for eight years,” she remarked.
While acknowledging the need to regulate misconduct online, Ms. Daaku insisted that going after social media activists should not be a priority.
She noted that many political activists, including herself, had been insulted and attacked online but never called for arrests.
She concluded that President Mahama should focus his energy on solving pressing problems such as galamsey and the economy instead of concentrating on critics on social media.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
