Ghana’s new president Nana Akufo-Addo has fired the head of cocoa industry regulator Cocobod, Stephen Opuni, asking him to vacate his office by the close of business on Friday, according to a letter from the presidency seen by Reuters.
Akufo-Addo, who was sworn in on Saturday and has pledged to restore the West African nation’s economy to double-digit growth, has yet to name a new head for Cocobod, as Ghana Cocoa Board is commonly known.
The letter said Opuni had ceased to be chief executive of the regulator following the election of a new president.
“In view of the urgency attached to this matter please ensure that you handover and cease to act as chief executive of Ghana Cocoa Board not later than 5 p.m. on January 13, 2017,” it said.
Opuni, an orthopaedic surgeon, was appointed three years ago by former president Mahama and since then there have been concerns that Cocobod lacked transparency under his leadership.
Ghana, the world’s second largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast is hoping to produce 850,000-900.000 tonnes of cocoa in the 2016-17 crop year.