Kwesi Pratt Jnr has reacted to Randy Abbey’s new role at COCOBOD
The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has commented on the appointment of Randy Abbey as Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), highlighting the difficult circumstances surrounding the role.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on December 24, 2025, Pratt recalled his initial reaction when Abbey informed him of his decision to accept the COCOBOD leadership position.
“When Randy was appointed as Chief Executive of COCOBOD, he told me, and I said, ‘Randy, what are you going to do there? You are making a significant contribution as a media person and so on. Why are you going there? What is the motivation?’ And so yesterday, I felt vindicated,” Pratt said.
His remarks followed Abbey’s public defence of COCOBOD’s recent decision to suspend cocoa road projects nationwide, citing the board’s heavy financial burden.
According to Abbey, COCOBOD signed cocoa road contracts worth GH¢26 billion.
He revealed that in some years, particularly between 2018 and 2019, the Public Procurement Regulatory Commission (PPRC) made no allocation for road projects, yet COCOBOD proceeded to award contracts valued at GH¢220 million and US$99 million.
He noted that the situation deteriorated further between 2019 and 2020, when additional contracts worth GH¢231 million and US$1.157 billion were approved, again without budgetary provision.
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“So, within a space of three years, COCOBOD awarded road contracts valued at about GH¢21.5 billion. The question is: how were these contracts going to be paid for based on COCOBOD’s revenue? This is the problem,” Abbey stated.
He explained that the unfunded contracts have worsened COCOBOD’s financial challenges, contributing to losses from rollover arrangements and a growing debt stock estimated at GH¢33 billion.
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“How do you award contracts when there is no allocation? This is why the government has asked COCOBOD not to embark on road projects,” he added.
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