The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has justified its decision to halt cocoa road projects across the country, disclosing that it inherited road contracts valued at about GH₵26 billion, largely awarded without corresponding budgetary approval.

Addressing stakeholders from the Cocoa, Coffee and Shea Nut Association and winners of the 2025 National Cocoa Awards in Accra on Friday, December 19, COCOBOD Chief Executive Officer, Randy Abbey, said the volume and nature of the contracts made their continuation financially untenable.

According to him, several road contracts were awarded during periods when no allocations had been made for cocoa roads by the Public Procurement Regulatory Commission (PPRC).

“In 2018 and 2019 alone, there were no allocations for roads, yet contracts worth GHS220 million and $99 million were awarded. That was the beginning of the problem,” Mr Abbey explained.

He said the situation deteriorated further between 2019 and 2020, when additional contracts amounting to GHS231 million and $1.157 billion were approved without any provision for payment.

“In just about three years, cocoa road contracts worth roughly GHS21.5 billion were awarded. The fundamental question is how these contracts were ever expected to be financed from COCOBOD’s revenues,” he said.

Mr Abbey noted that the accumulation of unfunded road contracts has significantly worsened COCOBOD’s financial position, contributing to rollover losses and a growing debt stock currently estimated at GH₵33 billion.

He stressed that the absence of budgetary backing for such large-scale commitments left government with no option but to suspend the projects.

“How do you award contracts when there is no allocation to pay for them? This is why government has directed that COCOBOD should not proceed with road construction at this time,” he stated.

The COCOBOD CEO argued that cocoa revenues should have been channelled more prudently to directly support infrastructure and livelihoods in cocoa-growing communities, instead of creating massive liabilities.

He said the suspension of the projects is part of broader efforts to stabilise COCOBOD’s finances, restore operational sustainability and refocus resources on farmer welfare.