Police arrest two cocoa purchasing clerks for allegedly short-changing farmers in Dormaa

The police have arrested two cocoa Purchasing Clerks (PCs) in the Dormaa Municipality of the Bono Region for their allegedly short-changing cocoa farmers.

The suspects, Robert Owusu, 63 years and Kumi Acheaw, 45 years and PCs for the Yonkopa Company Limited allegedly bought the beans from farmers below the approved producer price.

Addressing a news conference in Sunyani, Mr Joseph Addae Akwaboa, the Bono Regional Minister explained that the suspects were picked by police intelligence, saying that investigations were ongoing to prosecute the suspects.

He said buying the cocoa beans below the producer price was detrimental to the farmers and the cocoa sector, saying that could also undermine the confidence in the government, as the nation put in interventions to boost the cocoa sector.

Mr Akwaboa said that the government had made adequate funds to ensure that farmers were paid approved prices, saying that: “The actions of the suspects often create the false impression that the government is indebted to farmers, when in fact the problem lies with non-compliant PCs.”

“Some of the PCs are not doing the right thing. When the funds are released, they fail to pay the farmers accordingly”, the regional minister worried, saying the security services had intensified monitoring to identify and apprehend other offenders.

Mr Akwaboa called on stakeholders in the cocoa value chain to “act patriotically and uphold integrity in their dealings”, saying that: “We are building a country together, and let us be patriotic and ensure fairness to our farmers”.

Mr Joseph Agyemang, a cocoa farmer at Dormaa-Kokroasua who shared his experience, said that he sold some beans on January 18 and February 2, 2026, the PCs paid him the new producer price.

GNA