COCOBOD was prudent in its spending - Amenya

The Head of Communications for Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Noah Amenya has debunked claims that his outfit blew monies during the signing of agreement between the group of Banks and Cocobod.

Speaking to Nii Ardey Clerk of Starr FM, Mr. Amenya gave a breakdown of the amount spent on the signing agreement. An amount of $12,000 was used to provide a facility for over 30 Banks with 2 or more representatives gathered in Paris, France to sign the 1.8 Billion Dollar Loan facility.

They therefore needed a venue that could accommodate the over 100 participants, while providing maximum security, especially coming from the backdrop of Terrorist attacks in Europe. The facility also provided refreshment for the high level dignitaries from the financial sector across the world.

Part of the $20,000 being speculated was used to procure a high-level security domain for a web platform that provided access to all partners of the loan agreement to track progress on the usage of the loan.

The Loan, which is the highest soft commodity loan on the sub Saharan Africa, was used to buy cocoa from the farmers and provide support in the form of Fertilizers and seedlings to help their yield. Part of the money is being used to construct Roads across 7 cocoa growing Regions in Ghana.

He used the opportunity to also clarify the payment of legal fees to a foreign law firm. He said that it was part of the requirements for the loan and that they could not rely on Lawyers at the Board.

He welcomed criticisms but said had to be done based on facts and not mere speculations.

Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday approved the procurement of re-export syndicated loan of $2 Billion from a consortium of banks and financial institutions comprising local and international financiers, which will enable Cocobod to buy around 900,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans.