The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Cocoa Sector and Agriculture Policy Committee has criticised the new Cocoa Bill passed by Parliament in 2026, warning that rushing the permanent law under a certificate of urgency threatens the livelihoods of nearly 3 million Ghanaians.
Speaking at a press briefing at the party’s headquarters in Asylum Down, Accra, on Monday, August 10, 2026, Offinso South Member of Parliament Dr. Isaac Yaw Opoku warned that hasty legislative changes risk destabilising Ghana’s second-largest foreign exchange earner.
Dr Opoku, who serves as co-chair of the NPP Agric Policy Committee and Ranking Member on Cocoa Affairs and Agriculture, stressed that approximately 800,000 farming households across 10 of Ghana’s 16 regions depend directly on cocoa, generating roughly $2 billion in annual foreign exchange during normal seasons.
The criticism follows the laying of the bill by the Deputy Minister for Finance on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, and its subsequent passage within days pursuant to Article 106(13) of the 1992 Constitution.
Pointing to the broad structural impact of the legislation, Dr Opoku stated: “The bill repeals PNDC Law 81 in its entirety, legislates the governance of the entire industry, creates a new tribunal, and establishes new criminal offences, yet was passed in a matter of days.”
Highlighting that national cocoa output fell from 1.047 million metric tons in 2020–2021 to 530,000 tons in 2023–2024 before a partial recovery to 600,000 tons, Dr Opoku noted that COCOBOD already projects a further 16 per cent output decline for the 2026–2027 season due to climate stress, Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease, and illegal gold mining (galamsey).
Rejecting government justifications for the rush, Dr Opoku remarked: “We do not say a certificate of urgency is unconstitutional… What we are saying is that its use must be proportionate to the case for urgency. The argument advanced here that the 2026–2027 pricing window opens in September does not justify foreclosing consultation on a law of this permanence.”
He added that the ultimate cost of flawed legislation will be borne directly by farming communities across Sefwi, Offinso, Assin Fosu, Goaso, and the entire cocoa belt.
Source: Daily Agric News
