A cocoa farmer, also a Co-Convener of the Ghana Civil Society Cocoa Platform, Obed Owusu-Addai has expressed a little reservation about Dr. Randy Abbey’s appointment as Acting CEO of COCOBOD.
Latest appointments by President Mahama revealed Dr. Abbey, former TV host at Metro TV as CEO of the afforementioned government outfit. There have been an atmosphere of mixed feeling following the appointment, as many turn to question his qualification.
The cocoa sector is plagued with multiple set-backs including smuggling, low productivity, poor pricing, destruction of cocoa farmlands for mining activities and amongst others.
Urgent steps are required for the country to revive the sector in order to sustain its longstanding reputation as one of the largest producers of cocoa in the world.
Although Obed sees Dr. Abbey as an outsider when it comes to the cocoa sector, he believes sometimes such persons bring new ideas and change.
“We see the appointment of Dr. Randy Abbey as unconventional, but sometimes, an outsider brings a certain fresh perspective that is needed to drive change, and the truth is that the cocoa sector needs change.”
“The sector needs a bold, concise, and decisive approach, so maybe he will bring this perspective into the sector, but we will need him to be a listening CEO,” he said.
The cocoa sector is hoping to bounce back from its retrogression in recent years, which has been attributed to poor leadership.
There have been reports on smuggling issues in the sector in recent years. The former CEO of the COCOBOD disclosed that they have apprehended persons smuggling cocoa to Burkina Faso.
Commentators have attributed the trend to poor pricing in the sector due to which farmers are compelled to smuggle their products elsewhere for favourable profits.
It is hoped that the new appointment will come with viable solutions to these pending issues.
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