Minority Chief Whip challenges government’s borrowing priorities as angry farmers in Dormaa Central express disappointment over unfulfilled GH₵2,500 payment promise
Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has thrown down the gauntlet to President John Mahama, asking a pointed question: if the government can seek to borrow $10 billion to stabilise the cedi, why can it not borrow GH₵11 million to clear its debts with cocoa farmers?
Speaking at Asensu 1 in the Dormaa Central Constituency, the outspoken MP did the arithmetic in public noting that at current exchange rates, $10 billion translates to approximately GH₵117 billion. He argued that the government could easily borrow a small fraction of that sum to settle outstanding payments owed to hardworking farmers who form the backbone of the cocoa industry.
“If you could borrow $10 billion to stabilise the cedi, do the same and pay cocoa farmers. The $10 billion is GH₵117 billion at today’s rate you only need a fraction of that to do right by these farmers.”
Annoh-Dompreh also levelled a broader accusation at the Mahama administration, alleging a troubling pattern of trading cocoa annually on international markets while passing only minimal returns to the farmers responsible for producing it. He described this as the government hoarding funds that rightfully belong to the farmers.
Invoking recent history, the Minority Chief Whip cited a precedent he said the President should emulate: in 2017, former President Nana Akufo-Addo borrowed from the Bank of Ghana to pay cocoa farmers, even when world market prices had fallen sharply. He urged President Mahama to show similar political will.
The visit laid bare the depth of discontent among farmers in the area. Cocoa farmers at Asensu 1 openly expressed their disappointment with the government, saying that the GH₵2,500 payment President Mahama reportedly promised them has not materialised. Many said the unfulfilled pledge has compounded their financial hardship and eroded their trust in the administration.
The Minority has vowed to keep the pressure on government until farmers receive what they are owed, with Annoh-Dompreh making clear that the caucus sees the cocoa farmer payment crisis as a matter of economic justice and not just politics.