Right policies can turn cocoa sector round — ICU General Secretary
The General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), Morgan Ayawine, has stated that challenges in the cocoa sector are not insurmountable and that with the right policies and programmes, things will improve.
“The challenges of today within the cocoa industry are not episodes that are insurmountable.
We believe that the government and COCOBOD, with the right and systematic policies, can quickly turn things around in the areas of improving the quality, raising the tonnage and reclaiming our enviable position on the market as the world’s leading producer of cocoa with premium quality,” he said.
The General Secretary said this when he swore into office the newly elected executives of the National Consultative Council of the COCOBOD Local Union last Tuesday.
Partnership
Mr Ayawine said the ICU believed in working in partnership with COCOBOD management and their teams at divisional and subsidiary levels to address the core issues of productivity and staff welfare, among others.
He said the union expected the COCOBOD Head Office Union to work closely with all other unions within the Ghana Cocoa Board to continue to support and cooperate with management and stakeholders to achieve the board’s set goals in an atmosphere of industrial peace and harmony.
“I assure you of the national union’s unreserved support to enable you to deliver on your mandate. It is important that you consult the national union on matters as may be appropriate,” he said.
Attributes
The ICU General Secretary further noted that the key attributes of leadership encompassed greater commitment, sacrifice, humility, dedication to duty, fairness and transparency, honesty, probity and accountability.
“While you accept the challenge to lead the workers of COCOBOD at this critical and challenging time of the Cocoa Industry, you must be guided by the status and importance of COCOBOD as a key player in Ghana’s economy,” he emphasised.
That, he said, had been amply supported by recent statistics released by the Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, in a Monthly Indicator of Economic Growth (MIEG) in which he cited COCOBOD as one of the institutions that provided data for the development of the MIEG.
That, he said, was an indication of how COCOBOD, through the farmers, workers, management and union, was significantly contributing to Ghana’s economic growth.
The National Consultative Council of the COCOBOD Local Union has Eric Tucksan as the Chairman and Frank Abuuro, Vice-Chairman; Daniel Samari, Secretary; Dennis Sarpong, Assistant Secretary, and Richard Nana A. Kumah, First Trustee.
The rest are Terry Nii Joy Nelson, Second Trustee; Bright Fenteng Asomaning, Executive Member; Ophelia Mensah Dzade, Women Representative, and Dennis Kwaku Boamah, Youth Representative.
