Alarm Blows Over COCOBOD’s $140M ‘Cooked’ Deal To Private Firm
Officials at COCOBOD have been caught pants-down, following a sudden management decision to terminate an ongoing cocoa rehabilitation program estimated at $140million dollars and outsource the contract to a private company under strange circumstance.
The move, which came as a shock to regional managers and district officers of Cocoa Health and Extension Division of COCOBOD, has left cocoa farmers as well as Rehabilitation Farm Hands (RFHs) across the country,deeply disappointed and seething with anger.
The Anchor has gathered that, the programme was originally given to regional managers and district officers of Cocoa Health and Extension Division who were handling it smoothly until an order from above to abrogate it and hand it over to a supposed private service provider.
Government, through the ministry of Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs secured a loan of $600million for investments in the cocoa sector.
Out of the amount, over 140million dollars was to be used in the replacement of diseased and overaged cocoa trees under the cocoa rehabilitation program.
The ministry of agriculture then deployed extension officers and other recruits to undertake the exercise of cutting down the affected cocoa trees and replacing them.
However, in a letter dated June 16, 2022, addressed to all regional managers by the Executive Director for Cocoa Health and Extension Division of COCOBOD,and intercepted by The Anchor, Dr Emmanuel NiiTackie-Otoo directed the exercise to be handed over to private service providers.
The letter, captioned “RE-IMPLEMENTATION OF MANAGEMENT DECISION: OUTSOURCING OF REHABILITATION FARM HANDS (RFHs) TO PRIVATE SERVICE PROVIDERS” stated among others that, it was the Chief Executive’s directive to terminate the program.
According to the letter, “Following the Chief Executive’s directive to cease activities related to Rehabilitation Farm Hands on 30th June 2022 as a result of its outsource to Private Service Providers, you are requested to communicate the following to all the RFHs in your Region.”
It said: “That Management intends to outsource the Rehabilitation Farm Hands to Private Service Providers”, adding, “That as a result of No. 1, all RFHs shall be relieved of their post under the supervision of CHED on 30th June 2022.”
“That Management shall soon follow up with their termination letters giving them the two (2) weeks’ notice as stipulated in item 6 of their contract letters. That, frantic effort is being made to pay them every wage arrears due them,” it said.
The letter, however, concluded that “Management is grateful for their dedicated services and wishes them well in their future endeavours”.
But this paper’s digging of the names and faces behind the private service providers is yielding some interesting revelations which will be put out in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Parliament has set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the outsourcing ofprograms to a private company.
This was after Member of Parliament (MP) for Bia East, Richard Acheampong, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, brought the matter to the attention of Parliament, prompting 2nd Deputy Speaker Andrew Asiamah, who was presiding to set up the committee to investigate the matter.
Speaking to Starr News Parliamentary Correspondent, the Bia-East MP questioned what the amounts allocated for the exercise have been put to.
According to him, the government is capable of undertaking the exercise rather than engaging private hands.
More to Come…
Source: theanchorghana
