The Ghana Cooperative Marketing Association (GCMA) has appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to intervene and ensure the full implementation of a 2009 Government White Paper directing the restoration of its properties nationwide.

Addressing a press briefing in Kumasi,  the Managing Director of the GCMA, Felix Awuley Addico, stated that despite a Deed of Transfer signed on January 5, 2009, under the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, several of its assets remained in the custody of state institutions and other entities.

According to him, successive governments had not fully enforced the directive, which required the restoration of the GCMA’s properties and the payment of outstanding rental arrears.

The GCMA traces its origins to 1928 when cocoa farmers at Alasomanso in the Ashanti Region formed group fermentaries. It was formally established in December 1944 as the first indigenous Ghanaian farmers’ organisation engaged in the purchase of cocoa.

At its peak, the association reportedly handled over 40 per cent of Ghana’s cocoa exports, competing with foreign firms that dominated the Gold Coast cocoa trade at the time.

It said its operations contributed significantly to the country’s agricultural development and rural livelihoods.

Property occupation

Mr Addico expressed concern that state and quasi-state institutions currently occupied a number of its properties across the country without paying rent or providing adequate compensation.

Institutions, he catalogued, included the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

He claimed that COCOBOD occupied several of its properties in Accra and other parts of the country, while the ADB had been using a GCMA property in Adum, Kumasi, as its regional office and further disclosed that SSNIT was occupying the former Ghana Cooperative Bank building in Accra Central.

Mr Addico further indicated that some private individuals were in possession of its properties without proper title or full payment, saying “We own about 500 properties nationwide, many of which are allegedly under unlawful occupation or have been sold”.

Demands

On behalf of the association, he demanded the immediate implementation of the 2009 Government White Paper to fully restore its properties, a comprehensive audit and payment of rental arrears at prevailing market rates and an independent valuation to determine appropriate compensation for periods of occupation.

Further, he called for a halt to any further sale or transfer of its properties, a government-led investigation into the alleged unlawful occupation and transfer of its assets and the establishment of a formal mediation process to resolve all outstanding disputes.

The Managing Director also appealed to the Attorney General’s Department to provide legal guidance on enforcement mechanisms and urged the media and civil society organisations to take an interest in the matter.

“The GCMA expresses the hope that the President Mahama-led government will take steps to ensure the enforcement of the 2009 directive and bring closure to the long-standing issue,” he indicated.

Impact on members

The Board Chairman of the GCMA, Daniel Kwasi Adusei, said the situation had adversely affected thousands of cocoa farmers and former employees of the association.

He explained that retired farmers and workers who contributed to the cooperative's development were facing economic hardship as a result of the prolonged dispute, while communities that once benefited from the association’s activities had also been affected.

Mr Adusei described the matter as not only a property dispute but also an issue of justice and adherence to the rule of law.