COCOBOD recovers only 10% of GH¢19.4 million advanced as seed fund to three companies in 2022/2023 cocoa season
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has said it had recovered only 10 per cent of about GH¢19.4 million owed it by three licensed buying companies (LBCs).
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The money was an advanced seed fund provided to those companies during the 2022/2023 cocoa season.
The companies are Universal Cooperative Commodity Limited, Cocoa Ahenfo and Produce Buying Company Ltd (PBC).
During the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on Tuesday, the Deputy Chief Executive of COCOBOD in charge of Finance and Administration, Emmanuel Ray Ankrah, indicated that out of the amount, about GH¢700,000 had been recovered.
However, he said, there was an ongoing recovery effort to retrieve all the debt.
In the case of Cocoa Ahenfo, he said an amount of GH¢680,000 out of GH¢2.59 million had been recovered.
For Universal Cooperative Commodity Limited, he said, COCOBOD had made a legal suit against the guarantor, which is Unique Insurance, to recover the money.
“PBC is a special case because there are some issues and we are hoping that come the 2024/2025 season, we can advance seed funds for them to go to the field and out of the margins that they will earn, we will recover the GH¢14 million through a provisional agreement,” Mr Ankrah said when he, together with the Chief Executive Officer of the COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, and other managers, appeared before the PAC.
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Recovery
Mr Aidoo also explained that the amount given to PBC was around GH¢600 million and it had repaid a substantial amount, leaving GH¢14 million.
“The point is that they are paying and there is a payment plan for them and they have the ability to pay,” he said.
An audit report presented to the PAC showed a GH¢1.9 million locked-up investment held by Zenith Bank Ghana Limited.
The investment matured in August 2022 and February 2023 and had not been redeemed.
In the report, the accounts manager noted that the government domestic debt exchange programme accounted for that anomaly.
The auditors have, therefore, recommended that COCOBOD management should pursue the recovery of the amount.
The CEO said GH¢55,000 of the amount had been recovered and the company was still pursuing the remainder. “So we are sure that once the funds are available, they will transfer it into our account,” he said.