Mills dissolves Cocobod Board

Ghana's new President John Atta Mills has dissolved the governing board of cocoa industry regulator Cocobod pending the appointment of a new board, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

Mahama Ayariga said the move was part of a policy of dissolving the boards of all state-owned firms, and replacing them with new personnel.

Cocobod Chief Executive Anthony Fofie, who was appointed at the start of the month, said the move was a normal transitional measure, and would not disrupt Cocobod's work.

“Management is still in place to run the day-to-day operations. Our core business is cocoa production, marketing and processing and these will go on unhindered,” Fofie said.

Ghana's 2008/09 cocoa harvest, the world's second biggest after neighbouring Ivory Coast, is lagging some way behind last year's, but Cocobod aims to raise harvests by a third to more than 1 million tonnes by the 2010/11 season .

Robert Poku Kyei, a member of Cocobod's outgoing governing board, said the organisation would carry on functioning.

“The dissolution is an interim measure to enable the government to assess and reconstitute the board … While this is being done, there is continuity because management is still in place,” he said.