BY Daniel Bampoe
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is urging Parliament to use the recall of the House initiated by Speaker Alban Bagbin to revisit the controversial Ghana Cocoa Board Bill, 2026, and correct provisions it considers potentially harmful to cocoa farmers.
The call was made by the Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who says the issue is no longer about whether Parliament can reconvene, but how the opportunity created by the recall can be used to address concerns surrounding the newly passed cocoa legislation.
According to Oppong Nkrumah, Speaker Bagbin has already recalled Parliament, and the NPP believes that opportunity should now be used to rescind and correct problematic aspects of the Cocoa Board Bill before the legislation proceeds further.
The former Information Minister, speaking on Citi FM, stressed that the NPP does not oppose the intention behind the reforms. Rather, the concern is with the wording of specific provisions and the potential consequences of allowing them to remain in their current form.
One of the provisions he highlighted concerns restrictions on the destruction or repurposing of cocoa farms.
The former minister acknowledged that the intention appears to be to prevent cocoa farms from being destroyed and converted for illegal mining activities.
He, however, warned that the current wording could go beyond that objective and potentially expose legitimate cocoa farmers to prosecution for normal agricultural activities.
He cited the removal of diseased cocoa trees as an example, particularly in cases involving Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease, where infected trees may have to be removed to prevent the disease from spreading across a farm.
“The intendment, we believe, is to actually prevent people from getting rid of their cocoa farms and selling them to galamsey,” he said, while stressing that the phraseology of the enacted provision could create unintended consequences.
Oppong Nkrumah therefore wants Parliament to revisit the clause and clearly exempt legitimate farm rehabilitation and disease-control activities carried out in accordance with approved agronomic practices.
His second major concern relates to the new statutory guarantee that cocoa farmers should receive at least 70 per cent of the Gross Free-On-Board price.
He recalled that the NDC’s campaign promise on cocoa pricing was originally presented as a commitment to pay farmers 70 per cent of the world market price.
According to him, the earlier version of the cocoa legislation also referred to 70 per cent of the world market price before the final formulation was changed to the “realised Gross FOB price.”
That change, he argued, creates a significant transparency question because the international cocoa market price can be independently observed, whereas the realised FOB price is determined through COCOBOD’s commercial arrangements.
“The world market price is observable. You can check it, and the farmer is entitled to 70 per cent of that,” Oppong Nkrumah explained.
Under the new formulation, he said, COCOBOD would determine and publish the realised FOB figure before calculating the farmer’s 70 per cent entitlement.
The critical question, in his view, is who independently verifies that calculation and whether farmers will have sufficient access to the information required to establish that they have received their lawful share
He argued that the original promise was intended to establish an objective benchmark that would not depend solely on the discretion of government or COCOBOD.
The demand for reconsideration comes at a time of heightened tension within the cocoa sector following disputes over producer prices, delayed payments and the financial difficulties confronting COCOBOD.
The 2025/26 cocoa season has been particularly contentious after the government reduced the producer price during the season, prompting strong reactions from farmers and the political opposition.
The Minority subsequently embarked on a nationwide engagement with cocoa farmers to document the challenges confronting the sector. The exercise, led by Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, took the opposition caucus into several cocoa-growing communities where farmers raised concerns over pricing, payments and their livelihoods.
The findings from the tour were subsequently presented to NPP presidential candidate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, further elevating the cocoa price controversy within the political debate.
Against this background, Oppong Nkrumah argues that Parliament should not allow the new legislation to proceed without addressing the concerns raised about its implementation.
He believes the parliamentary recall provides a timely opportunity to correct the law before problematic provisions become entrenched.
The NPP’s position is therefore not a call to abandon cocoa sector reform. Instead, it is asking Parliament to use the recall to rescind and amend the contentious provisions, conduct the necessary consultations and produce legislation that genuinely protects cocoa farmers.
