Armajaro seeks means to exonerate itself from cocoa smuggling

Cocoa marketing company, Armajaro Ghana Limited has welcomed any in-depth investigation to substantiate the company's involvement in cocoa smuggling.

Some field staff of Armajaro were indicted among other licensed buying company in the recent video footage on cocoa smuggling activities by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

The Ghana Cocoa Board has subsequently banned Armajaro and two other LBCs from operating along the country's western corridor.

Armajaro's Director of Operations, Nelson Kpodo-Tay says it was shocking to have learnt of the company's involvement in the practice, at a time when it has invested heavily in anti-smuggling.

He tells Luv Biz Report smuggling is not part of the company's culture, especially when the illegal practice is a bane to the cocoa industry. He emphasized “we as LBCs have reported countless occasions about this thing happening. So you see that it's a canker eating all of us up and that is why we are happy about what Anas has done. But to tag the company as a smuggling company, we need to go deeper”.

Mr. Kpodo-Tay says it would be in the interest of the company, which operates internationally, to be exonerated from the illegal practices.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh