The Minority Caucus’s choice to hold a symbolic demonstration during the 2026 State of the Nation Address (SoNA) was defended by Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, who claimed the move was done in solidarity with cocoa farmers who were impacted by the recent decline in producer prices.
Just before President John Dramani Mahama started his speech, Minority Members of Parliament stood up from their chairs wearing black and donning sashes with the message, “Cocoa Akuafo Yayɛ Mɔbɔ Dodo,” signaling an unexpected shift in parliamentary business.
The MPs also used cocoa pods to illustrate what they called the deteriorating state of farmers in the industry.
Frank Annoh-Dompreh published a Facebook post on Saturday, February 28, outlining the reasons for the protest. He stated that the action was deliberate and intended to convey a clear message of support to cocoa farmers.
Despite the government’s claims to economic progress, he said the goal of the move was to bring attention to the increasing hardship, uncertainty, and decreasing incomes that farmers are facing.
“As a symbolic show of support for cocoa farmers whose livelihoods have been decimated by the government’s choice to lower producer prices, the Minority met President John Dramani Mahama’s State of the Nation address with a symbolic cocoa pod, rather than with drama. According to him, the action sent a clear message that farmers on the ground are facing hardship, uncertainty, and falling earnings despite the government’s claims of improvement.
The demonstration occurs after the government recently declared a decrease in the cocoa producer price to GH¢41,392 per tonne, or GH¢2,587 per bag, for the remainder of the 2025/26 crop season.
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