The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is launching a full-scale payroll audit in a bid to uncover inefficiencies and restore financial discipline across its operations.
The announcement was made by the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ransford Annetey Abbey, during an interview on TV3’s Hot Issues on Sunday, May 25, 2025.
According to Dr. Abbey, the organization currently has a staff strength of over 10,000, with a staggering monthly wage bill of approximately $12 million. He questioned the integrity of the payroll system, hinting at the possibility of ghost names and other irregularities.
“We are going to do a staff audit to ascertain whether we are all human beings,” Dr. Abbey said with concern, pointing to potential flaws in the system that could be draining COCOBOD’s limited resources.
He blamed past leadership for financial mismanagement and a failure to implement recovery strategies, adding that the organization’s ballooning GHC33 billion debt requires immediate action. Dr. Abbey believes that strong fiscal discipline and cutting down on waste will be essential to COCOBOD’s recovery.
The payroll review forms part of a broader reform agenda that includes auditing stockpiled jute sacks and collaborating with the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to trace 200 missing containers of cocoa-related supplies.
Dr. Abbey also noted that a stronger Ghana cedi would help ease COCOBOD’s external debt burden. His goal is to restore accountability and efficiency in an industry that is critical to the country’s economy.
