An investigative documentary has revealed the dishonest ways cocoa buyers adjust their weighing scales to take as much as extra 100 kilogrammes of cocoa beans per farmer.
The Missing Kilos, a documentary conducted and aired on JoyNews, exposed the systematic scheme used by purchasing clerks of cocoa buying companies to cheat cocoa farmers.
According to the industry regulator, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the official weight for a bag of cocoa is 64kg which the cocoa buyers deliberately overlook. These buyers operate by their own rules to the disadvantage of poor farmers.
Meanwhile, the Communications Manager of COCOBOD, Mr. Fiifi Boafo, has applauded the investigative team for exposing the “ill in our society and industry”. He further assured that steps have since been taken to curtail the practice.
“Beginning the next cocoa season (October 2020), we will be introducing electronic weighing scales. We have gone past the stage where it’s in their hands to decide whether or not to adjust the scale by 3 or 5 kilos.”
The documentary filmed in 2018 was bugged by a legal tussle for two years after the local cocoa buyers’ association secured a court injunction halting publication.
Irreparable Damage
Missing Kilos is said to detail how officials of some state and privately-owned cocoa trading firms adjust weighing scales to cheat cocoa farmers, stealing much as 100 kilogrammes of cocoa beans from a single farmer.
The cocoa traders’ association is reported to have argued to the courts that the “airing of the documentary will cause them irreparable damage.”
The three-member panel presided over by Dennis Adjei ruled the association’s demand “unmeritorious”.
Green Light To Air
This is the second time the Multimedia Group is receiving a court clearance to broadcast the investigative documentary.
In May 2018, an Accra High Court gave the media giant the green light to air the documentary produced by journalist Kwetey Nartey.
However, lawyers for the Association appealed the Court’s decision and went as far as the Apex court of Ghana with another application to quash the High Court ruling over lack of jurisdiction, but failed.
Attorney for the media firm, Roselyne Kaledzi, told the court that, the said the findings of the documentary are of national interest and should not be blocked.
The court then moved to dismiss the Association’s injunction and awarded a cost of GH¢2,000 against them.
In February this year, COCOBOD directed all licensed buying companies (LBCs) to use electronic weighing scales in the purchase of cocoa beans effective in October, 2020.
The policy was to help clear malicious allegations and suspicions of cheating perpetrated by cocoa purchasing companies, particularly purchasing clerks, who are said to adjust analogue weighing scales to cheat cocoa farmers.
Speaking at a national stakeholder dialogue on cocoa farm gate pricing and income of cocoa farmers in Accra, a deputy Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board, Dr Emmanuel Opoku, said the electronic weighing scales would be procured by the LBCs, adding that the board was taking every necessary step to protect the interest of cocoa farmers.
