, Fiifi Boafo, and the management of the Board over claims that more than 10 directors have been sidelined from active duty while still drawing full salaries.){kind=link}
A war of words has erupted between former Head of Public Affairs at Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Fiifi Boafo, and the management of the Board over claims that more than 10 directors have been sidelined from active duty while still drawing full salaries.
Mr. Boafo insists that several experienced directors, each with over two decades of service, have been stripped of their substantive positions and reassigned to what he describes as “non-existent roles” in COCOBOD’s organogram. According to him, these reassignments have left the directors redundant, idle, and without clearly defined responsibilities, an indictment on management’s claims of efficiency and effectiveness.
“The recent statement issued by the Ghana Cocoa Board does little to address the real issues at stake. The fact remains that several directors have been stripped of their substantive positions into non-existent roles. They have been rendered redundant while still drawing salaries,” he argued in a statement on Wednesday, August 20.
But COCOBOD has strongly denied the allegations. In a press release issued a day earlier, the Board stated emphatically that “no director has been asked to stay home and draw salary,” clarifying that the only director currently on leave is the former Director of Finance, who had gone eight years without taking any leave.
Management further explained that recent leadership changes form part of a broader “strategic realignment” aimed at boosting efficiency and effectiveness. “Transfers and reassignments are part of strategic realignment to bring efficiency into the operations of the Board,” the statement read.
Mr. Boafo, however, dismissed the explanation as “cosmetic” and “a sham,” claiming there is no clarity about the assignments, reporting lines, or facilities for the supposed new roles. He alleged that millions of cedis have already been spent on transfer grants, worsening COCOBOD’s financial strain.
“At a time when COCOBOD is complaining about high staff remuneration and financial difficulties, it is reckless to create artificial positions that add no value,” he said, adding that the situation betrays the trust of cocoa farmers already frustrated by unfulfilled promises, including the much-publicised GHS 6,000 per bag price.