NPP To Mahama: Don’t Assent To COCOBOD Bill

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on President John Mahama to withhold assent to the Ghana Cocoa Board Bill, 2026, describing the legislation as a good reform undermined by a flawed and rushed process.

The party said although it supported the replacement of the existing PNDCL 81 and reforms aimed at improving traceability, value addition and guaranteeing cocoa farmers a minimum share of export earnings, several provisions in the new bill could ultimately hurt farmers and weaken Ghana’s position in the international cocoa market.

In a statement issued by the NPP’s Policy Secretariat and dated August 9, 2026, the party said the bill, which was passed by Parliament in the last week of July under a Certificate of Urgency, was not subjected to adequate consultation with key stakeholders, particularly cocoa farmers.

“A good cause has been undone by a bad process,” the NPP said, arguing that a major legislation affecting about 800,000 cocoa farming families and an estimated three million Ghanaians should not have been passed within days.

According to the party, the bill was laid on July 28 and passed within the same week, repealing PNDCL 81, creating a new regulatory framework for the cocoa industry, establishing a tribunal and introducing new criminal offences.

The NPP maintained that the use of a Certificate of Urgency was not in itself unconstitutional, but questioned whether it was justified for legislation of such permanence.

It said neither of the two national cocoa farmer associations was consulted, while concerns formally raised by the Licensed Cocoa Buyers Association of Ghana (LICOBAG) were not incorporated into the bill.

The party also alleged that the Cocoa Hauliers Association was not consulted and that no stakeholder engagement report was laid before the joint parliamentary committee.

“The 2026 bill also differs materially from the 2025 bill reviewed in committee. Members passed a text no stakeholder had seen,” the statement said.

 

Pricing formula

The NPP’s major concern is Clause 57, which provides that the producer price should not be less than 70 percent of the Gross Free on Board (FOB) price realised by the board.

While welcoming the statutory floor, the party questioned how the “realised Gross FOB” would be calculated and independently verified.

It argued that the previous reference to the world market price was more transparent because international cocoa prices are observable on commodity exchanges, whereas realised Gross FOB could involve internal calculations based on forward contracts.

The party therefore demanded publication of the computation and underlying contracts each season, as well as independent auditing of the figures before producer prices are announced.

The NPP also questioned the government’s decision to allow external marketing among the activities that could be licensed under Clause 59.

It warned that the provision could eventually lead to private exporters competing with the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC), which currently serves as the central marketing channel for Ghana’s cocoa.

According to the party, centralised marketing gives Ghana bargaining strength on the international market and supports forward sales, price stabilisation and quality premiums.

“Fragment the seller and we surrender our only leverage,” it said.

 

Concerns over farm management

The opposition party also took issue with Clause 81, which prohibits the destruction, uprooting, damaging or felling of cocoa trees except for rehabilitation approved by COCOBOD.

While acknowledging the need to prevent cocoa farms from being converted into illegal mining sites, the NPP argued that the provision was too broad and could criminalise legitimate farming practices. It said farmers routinely remove overcrowded, diseased or unproductive trees as part of normal farm management and warned that requiring approval before such activities could delay the control of swollen shoot disease.

The party said the problem was particularly serious because about 90,000 hectares of cocoa farms were already awaiting rehabilitation. It proposed that the clause should exempt tree removals carried out in accordance with published COCOBOD agronomic guidelines, while requiring approval only where a registered cocoa farm was being converted to non-cocoa use.

 

 

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