Dr. Palgrave Boakye Danquah, former Government Spokesperson on Governance and Security, has stated that the current direction of Ghana’s cocoa policy is based on earlier agreements reached under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
He explained that the policy being implemented today did not begin recently but traces back to the Akufo-Addo government.
“It seems to have been something we did a while back. Why now?” he asked.
According to him, the Ghana Cocoa Initiative was established following the signing of the Abidjan Declaration in March 2018 by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara.
“In March 2018, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Alassane Ouattara signed the Abidjan Declaration, and that was where we created the Ghana Cocoa Initiative,” he said on GTV.
He noted that the initiative was meant to strengthen cooperation between cocoa-producing countries.
Dr. Danquah added that while the current administration is continuing the policy, it should be seen as a shared national effort rather than a new introduction.
“It is a continuation of what the NDC government is doing. We are very pleased about that,” he said.
He further stated that cocoa farmers remain central to the policy direction and urged that agreements supporting pricing and collaboration be maintained.
“As the opposition party, cocoa is important to us. Our farmers are important to us,” he added.
He concluded by expressing approval that the current government is maintaining what he described as earlier groundwork.
“It’s good news to see that they are continuing the legacy that we began, and we commend them for that,” he said.
