Rid cocoa mass spraying exercise of politics - Minority

Accra, July 27, GNA - The Minority in Parliament on Thursday called on the Ghana COCOBOD to effectively monitor the mass cocoa spraying exercise to rid it of politicization.

They contended that as a result of such politicization, the exercise had been bedevilled with corruption, 93as some functionaries of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in certain cocoa growing constituencies are putting politics into the spraying exercise".

Alhaji Collins Dauda, NDC-Asutifi South, the Minority Spokesman on Land and Forestry, told a press conference in Parliament that an NPP functionary was standing trail at a circuit court for allegedly stealing 24 cartons of Ridomil (chemical used in spraying cocoa) released for the mass spraying exercise in 2005, while others were under Police investigations for other offences in connection with the exercise. He said some areas are being discriminated against in the exercise for political reasons and wondered why the door of an activity, which was being financed by deductions made from incomes of all cocoa farmers had been shut to NDC sympathizers for the 2005 and 2006.

Alhaji Dauda said a report of the 27th meeting of the Producer Price Review Committee held under the chairmanship of Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, on October 5, 2005 stated that an amount of 300 billion cedis was set aside from the projected FOB value for disease and pests control exercise in the 2005 and 2006 cocoa year.

"We need to know why deductions from the incomes of cocoa farmers in the country were made without political colourisation but sympathizers of the NDC are being denied the benefit of the fund they have contributed to," Alhaji Dauda said.

He said that all members of the mass spray ing gangs perceived to be sympathizers of the NDC in the Sefwi-Juaboso; Sefwi-Wiawso; Sefwi-Akontonbra; Sefwi-Bia; Suaman; Asunafo South and Asutifi South constituencies had been dismissed and their farms not sprayed.

"We need to halt these acts of illegality, which is seriously undermining the exercise," Alhaji Dauda said, and called on the Chief Executive of the COCOBOD, Mr Isaac Osei to cause changes in the mass spraying system and subsequently reinstate all NDC dismissed gang members.

"We wish to call on COCOBOD to use community cocoa Chief Farmers but not NPP executives or activists," Alhaji Dauda said. The Minority further requested for gang-by-gang distribution list of the spraying inputs at the constituency level in contested areas.