News
New cocoa price could lead farmers into smuggling across borders – Minority warns government
The Minority in Parliament has warned that the new cocoa producer price announced by government could push farmers to smuggle their cocoa across Ghana’s borders in search of better prices.
The Minority indicated that the GH¢3,228.75 per 64kg bag offered for the 2025/2026 cocoa season was too low and did not match the current market conditions.
They explained that the new price was only a 4.2% increase from the previous season’s GH¢3,100, describing it as unfair and a betrayal of the hard work of cocoa farmers.
In a statement signed by the Ranking Member on the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee, Dr. Isaac Yaw Opoku, affirmed that cocoa farmers deserved better.
He noted that the low price could tempt many to smuggle cocoa into Côte d’Ivoire, where farmers were reportedly receiving the equivalent of GH¢3,635 per bag, GH¢407 more than in Ghana.
“This gap in price presents a strong reason for smuggling, especially in border areas like Western North, Western South, Brong Ahafo and Volta,” the minority stated.
They questioned why campaign promises made by leading government officials, including Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and Agriculture Minister Dr. Eric Opoku, had not been fulfilled.
They recalled that both ministers promised cocoa farmers between GH¢6,000 and GH¢7,000 per bag if the NDC came to power.
They also pointed to the President’s earlier pledge to pay 70% of the world market price to farmers.
According to them, the current global price of $8,211.23 per tonne should translate to GH¢3,718 per bag, not GH¢3,228.75.
The group expressed worry about the announced price saying that it was “unacceptable”, describing it as “ridiculous, shameful and a stab in the back of farmers.”
They urged the government to immediately review the price and show more commitment to improving the welfare of cocoa farmers, warning that the industry could suffer if farmers turn away from cocoa or lease their farms to illegal miners.
“The government must come again. Cocoa farmers matter and they deserve better,” the minority reminded.
By: Jacob Aggrey
News
Parents urged to take responsibility for sex education
Dr Francis Wuobar, A Gynaecologist at the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua, has urged parents to take the lead in providing sex education to their children, stressing that they were in the best position to guide them through the changes of adolescence.
According to him, sex education remained a taboo subject in most Ghanaian homes, a culture that must change to prevent children from seeking misleading information elsewhere.
“With the evolving nature of society and technological advancements, today’s children will either learn about sex on the internet or from their peers, who may offer wrong advice,” he cautioned.
Dr Wuobar noted that the health system and society often concentrate on the reproductive stage of life, neglecting the adolescent and menopausal phases.
“When a woman reaches the reproductive period and gets pregnant, everyone rallies around her. But before that stage, during adolescence, there is little attention and guidance, which has contributed to the rising cases of teenage pregnancy,” he explained.
He further observed that many adolescents lack access to counselling and adolescent clinics, creating a vacuum that forces them to explore on their own.
“The answers they seek, adults and parents are not willing to provide. Their peers, who are equally uninformed, become their only source of advice. This exploration is one of the major contributors to teenage pregnancy,” he elaborated.
Dr Wuobar, therefore, called on parents to create open and confidential spaces for discussion, where children can freely ask questions about sex, puberty, and relationships.
Moreover, he emphasised that parents must help adolescents understand the consequences of unprotected sex, the changes they go through, and what choices were right or wrong.
“Today’s generation is curious and asks questions, unlike in the past when children were silent. Parents should not rebuke them but rather engage them seriously and guide them through this turbulent stage,” he advised.
He again appealed to the health sector to establish more adolescent clinics across the country to give young people safe spaces to seek information and counselling.
That, he emphasised, would help reduce the high incidence of teenage pregnancy and support adolescents in making informed decisions about their sexual health.
- From Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman, Koforidua
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
News
TBCCC Women’s Ministry marks first anniversary
The Battle Cry Community Church (TBCCC) Women’s Ministry has commemorated its first anniversary at Adenta in Accra.
The five-day event which was held from Wednesday, August 27 to Sunday, August 31 was under the theme “A new chapter of beauty”.
Activities held included worship and prayer nights, and sessions of exhortations.
An Associate Pastor of Harvest Chapel International, Lady Pastor Hagar Hasford, in a sermon likened the journey of women to exchanging ‘ashes for beauty’ and urged them to lay down their burdens in prayer for total honour and restoration.
With biblical insights from Esther 2:12, she reminded women that obedience and covenant loyalty were keys to divine preparation.
She said true beauty is when one comes into God’s purpose with divine alignment.
Mrs Anna Owusu, a proprietress and leader of the TBCCC Choir, encouraged women to live with determination, maintain a growth mindset, and remain true to their God-given identity.
She said, stepping into a new chapter requires both spiritual and personal commitment.
A retired pastor, Rev. Mrs. Florence Baidoo, said beauty should be both inward and outward, reflecting Christ in a way that draws others to Him.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
