New PBC boss orders forensic audit over GH¢670m debt and unpaid clerk commissions

The acting Managing Director of PBC Limited, Alhaji Seydu Yonye, has said a forensic audit of the state-owned cocoa buying company was underway in a bid to recover unpaid commissions owed to cocoa marketing clerks (CMCs) and address suspected financial mismanagement.

Alhaji Yonye said he has formally written to the Auditor-General requesting an urgent audit of PBC’s accounts covering the period from 2017 to April 2025.

He said this in a television interview on TV3’s Hot Issues programme on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

He said the move follows widespread complaints from CMCs across the country that they have not been paid for the cocoa they delivered, despite the company having received payments from the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod).

"Almost everywhere I went, CMCs kept complaining. I asked them if they had delivered the beans. They said yes. I asked, has PBC delivered to Cocobod? They said yes. Has Cocobod paid? They said yes. So where is the money?" Alhaji Yonye asked.

The company, once the largest cocoa buyer in the country, is now saddled with a debt portfolio estimated at GH¢670 million and has not audited its accounts since 2023. In addition to the missing commissions, about 600 staff have reportedly gone unpaid for 20 months.

Alhaji Yonye, who assumed office a month ago, also revealed that his predecessor left the country for the United Kingdom after the December 2024 elections without providing handover documents. Efforts to retrieve records from deputies have been unsuccessful, he said.

He accused a Deputy Managing Director of holding three key roles: operations, finance and administration, and acting managing director, creating a conflict of interest.

According to Alhaji Yonye, he has since been removed from office after refusing to provide handover documents and has petitioned the presidency over his removal.

“These are the reasons why I want my predecessors to come to the book and explain to us so that we’ll have a better understanding going forward,” Alhaji Yonye said, adding that he would not shield anyone implicated by the audit.

The forensic audit, if approved, is expected to clarify the status of unpaid commissions and broader financial discrepancies that have deepened the crisis at the struggling enterprise.

Alhaji Yonye said restoring accountability was the only path forward. “We must learn to be accountable,” he said.