Walewale lawmaker, Dr. Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama, has told the Mahama administration to stop the blame game and focus on addressing the challenges facing cocoa farmers.

He made the point that the NDC presented itself as though it had all the solutions to the challenges when it was in opposition, but in government, it has demonstrated its inability to address the issues.

You have no business complaining when you profess that you have the solution. You said you had rescued the economy, but why can’t you rescue the cocoa sector?

This government made a clear promise to farmers based on their understanding of the cocoa sector, Dr Mahama said.

Prior to his comments, the Minister of Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu, had said on the same show that the reduction in the prices of cocoa was to save the economy.

Kwakye Ofosu made the point that the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration destroyed the economy, with several challenges in the cocoa sector.

The current Mahama administration, he said, is addressing the challenges.

The NPP completely collapsed the Cocoa sector. The current adjustment we are making to Cocoa prices is in the best interest of the country and it will help us save the economy, he said. The price reduction is not what we promised cocoa farmers, but it is to save this economy, he added.

Earlier, while delivering the state of the nation address in parliament on Thursday February 27, President John Dramani Mahama said that “In the last few weeks, we have had to take the painful but necessary decision to revise the producer price of Cocoa to achieve competitive pricing and resolve acute liquidity challenges in the sector.

Failure to do so would have meant pumping in billions of borrowed funds. This unplanned expenditure would have taken us right back to the very devastating economic problems we have only recently begun to escape.

He added “So, while fully understanding the concerns and protests of our farmers, I can firmly assure them that the reforms announced by the government will bring about a total transformation of the sector and guarantee them a fair price that enables them to cover the cost of producing the commodity and make decent margins.

The difference between facing economic hardships and avoiding them is the exercise of sound economic judgement, and I am determined to make decisions that ensure our collective well-being and avoid suffering for all our citizens.

Source: 3news