COCOBOD salary cuts just a gimmick — Asafo Agyei

COCOBOD announced that effective Monday, February 16, its Executive Management and Senior Staff would take salary cuts for the remainder of the 2025/26 crop year in response to liquidity pressures.

Under the new arrangement, Executive Management will accept a 20 per cent reduction in salaries, while Senior Staff will take a 10 per cent cut. The board indicated that the measure forms part of broader cost-containment efforts, including tighter procurement controls and staff rationalisation, aimed at aligning expenditure with revenue.

Speaking on Accra-based Metro TV Ghana’s Good Morning Ghana programme on Tuesday, Mr Asafo Adjei questioned the timing and effectiveness of the cuts.

“What they are telling us with this 20% and 10% cut is just a facade. They are just trying to lick our minds. And for me, it is not the solution,” he said.

The lawmaker argued that the salary reductions are largely symbolic and do not address the deeper structural issues confronting the cocoa sector.

He noted that many of the financial challenges cited by COCOBOD predate recent procurement decisions and renovation works, adding that the overall wage bill for management and senior staff is too small to significantly ease the board’s financial strain.

“Before staff rationalisation, you employed so much… and yet we went ahead to procure vehicles and carry out renovations. This message of 20% and 10% is not real reform,” he stated.

Questions Over Credibility

Mr Asafo Adjei also referenced previous instances of salary reductions during the first tenure of former President John Dramani Mahama, alleging that some pay cuts were later reversed quietly.

He contended that without transparent and comprehensive structural reforms, the latest move by COCOBOD risks being viewed as a public relations exercise rather than a genuine effort to restore financial stability.