Akim Swedru MP slams COCOBOD Act over restrictions on cocoa farmers’ land use

Although the government has presented the legislation as a key reform to strengthen Ghana's cocoa sector and ensure its long-term sustainability, Mr Osei Nyarko maintains that the land-use restrictions contained in the Act go too far and undermine the rights of cocoa farmers and other landowners.

The Member of Parliament for Akim Swedru, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, has criticised provisions in the newly passed Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Act, arguing that they infringe on the rights of cocoa farmers by preventing them from deciding how to use their land.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, August 2, the lawmaker claimed the new legislation bars cocoa farmers from converting their farms to any purpose other than cocoa cultivation or rehabilitation, regardless of whether the land is privately owned, family land or stool land.