Ekow Assafuah petitions OSP, CHRAJ over conflict-of-interest at COCOBOD

A major governance storm is gathering around the cocoa sector following a formal petition by the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), alleging serious conflict-of-interest violations and regulatory compromise within the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).

The petition, grounded in constitutional, statutory, and administrative law, raises concerns about the dual professional relationships and operational intersections involving Ato Boateng, the Acting Deputy Chief Executive (Finance & Administration) of COCOBOD, and Atlas Commodities Limited, a private cocoa trading company with which he previously held executive leadership positions.

Strategic Power At COCOBOD

According to the petition, Boateng occupies one of the most influential positions within COCOBOD, with authority over financial management and approvals, administrative control, regulatory coordination, compliance systems, and institutional decision-making affecting Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) and cocoa sector operators nationwide.

This role places him at the core of COCOBOD’s regulatory and operational machinery — a position that directly influences how the cocoa industry is financed, regulated, supervised, and governed.

Operational Overlap Raises Red Flags

The controversy centres on evidence that Atlas Commodities Limited has been operating within warehouses registered under the Produce Buying Company (PBC), one of the licensed cocoa buying institutions.

Under COCOBOD regulations, each warehouse must be registered under and used exclusively by a specific Licensed Buying Company, and such facilities must not be used for the storage, grading, sealing, or processing of cocoa belonging to any other company.

The alleged use of PBC-registered warehouses by Atlas Commodities therefore raises serious regulatory compliance concerns, particularly given Boateng’s prior executive leadership role in Atlas Commodities and his current senior management position within COCOBOD.

He says such an operational intersection creates the appearance of institutional facilitation, regulatory compromise, preferential access, or abuse of authority, even before any criminal liability is established.

Constitutional and Legal Foundations of the Petition

At the centre of the petition is Article 284 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, which states clearly that: “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office.”

The petition stresses that under Ghanaian constitutional law, the mere likelihood or appearance of conflict is sufficient to trigger an investigation, even in the absence of proven wrongdoing.