The Ghana COCOBOD asserts that their fact-finding trip, which was carried out in response to a complaint of child labor on cocoa fields in the Amenfi-West Municipality of the Western Region, demonstrates that the Al Jazeera report was fabricated.
Cocobod continued by saying that the entire study was devised with the intention of damaging the Ghanaian cocoa sector.
According to a study by Al Jazeera, the use of child labor has increased on cocoa farms in Ghana over the past decade, despite industry commitments to decrease it.
A study that was funded by the United States government found that the number of children working in dangerous jobs, such as using sharp tools, has increased in the top two cocoa-producing countries in the world. The report also found that the prevalence of children doing dangerous work has increased.
Charles Amenyaglo, Director of Special Services at the Ghana Cocobod, told Citi News that the cocoa industry is the oxygen of Ghana and that they will fight the powerful forces that are trying to undermine the cocoa industry. This interaction occurred during Cocobod’s fact-finding interactions with Al Jazeera interviewees at the Ohiampenipa community.
“Cocoa is Ghana’s oxygen, and just like what happens to a person when their oxygen supply is cut off, what is occurring in Ghana right now is part of a planned plan to extinguish Ghana as a nation, and we are not going to allow that happen.” On our cocoa estates in Ghana, you won’t find any children working. The management of Cocoa will not take an inactive stance with regard to this matter.
Samuel Ofosu Asare, a former assemblyman for the Ohiampenipa village who was there during the taping of Al Jazeera, stated that the Al Jazeera reporters instructed the youngsters to carry cocoa pods and took pictures of them doing so. In addition, he mentioned that the kids were rewarded with chocolates once the full report was acted out.
Credit: citinewsroom.com