The Odumase Krobo Circuit Court has handed down a seven-year prison sentence to Issifu Nyandi for attempting to smuggle bags of cocoa beans from Ghana to neighbouring Togo. Presided over by Justice Kwesi Apiatse Abaiddu, the court found Nyandi guilty of the offence based on his plea.
Nyandi was apprehended on Wednesday, April 24, by the Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Taskforce while aboard a Ho-bound Ford Transit Bus, intending to transport the cocoa beans to Togo. Acting on a tip-off, the task force intercepted the bus around 1700 hours and discovered six bags of cocoa beans concealed in poly sacks upon a thorough search.
Upon interrogation, Nyandi admitted to owning the contraband, stating that he purchased the cocoa beans from Koforidua in the Eastern Region and intended to sell them in the Republic of Togo after transporting them to Tudu in Accra.
Following his arrest, Nyandi was handed over to the Akosombo Police and subsequently arraigned at the Odumase Krobo Circuit Court. He was charged with offences including purchasing cocoa without authority, attempting to smuggle cocoa beans, and attempting to export uninspected, ungraded, and unsealed cocoa beans, all contravening various sections of Ghanaian laws governing the cocoa trade.
Given the severity of the charges, Nyandi pleaded guilty to the offences and was convicted accordingly. The court's decision underscores the strict penalties outlined by Ghanaian laws regarding cocoa-related offences, with custodial sentences ranging from five to ten years without the option of a fine under certain statutes.
This sentencing comes in the wake of two earlier convictions by the same court, highlighting the escalating incidence of cocoa smuggling within the country. The swift action taken by authorities underscores the government's commitment to combating illicit cocoa trade, safeguarding Ghana's cocoa industry, and preserving its reputation as a global cocoa producer.
The state’s buying monopoly, Cocobod, pays 60-80% of market price for cocoa. In addition, farmers are asked to take a “haircut” in connecting with Ghana’s IMF deal. This policy is killing Ghana’s once thriving cocoa industry. Dissolving Cocobod, letting the farmers sell to who they decide, to the price they were able to agree, would be a blessing for Ghana’s cocoa farmers and for the nation’s economy.
Sentencing a man to several years in prison for having attempted to smuggle a few bags of cocoa, as if it was heroin, is simply perverse.