The Minority Caucus in Parliament has petitioned President John Dramani Mahama, calling for urgent executive intervention to address challenges in the energy sector, cocoa pricing, environmental governance, and food distribution systems.
In a letter dated May 13, 2026, addressed to President John Dramani Mahama at Jubilee House, the caucus expressed concern over what it described as worsening governance and institutional challenges affecting key sectors of the economy.
The petition highlighted four major issues, including the return of persistent power outages, commonly referred to as “dumsor,” the plight of cocoa farmers following recent producer price reductions, an emerging administrative and financial crisis at the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), and food distribution challenges affecting Senior High Schools.
According to the Minority, recurring power outages continue to impose financial losses on businesses and industries, while persistent gas shortfalls and transmission failures point to unresolved structural problems within the energy sector.
The caucus also raised concerns about the recent reduction in cocoa producer prices, arguing that the decision is placing additional pressure on cocoa-growing households already struggling with rising input costs and declining incomes.
The petition warned that continued producer-price reductions could weaken farmer incentives, encourage cross-border smuggling, and affect Ghana’s foreign exchange stability and long-term cocoa sector sustainability.
On the EPA, the Minority alleged that more than 3,000 contract staff were recruited at the Authority before the constitution of a governing board and before the receipt of financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance.
The caucus claimed subsequent financial clearance covered only about 500 positions, raising concerns over regulatory continuity, environmental governance, and investor confidence.
The Minority further cited reports of food surpluses at farming communities alongside shortages of food supplies in Senior High Schools as evidence of structural coordination failures within the country’s food distribution systems.
The caucus urged the President to initiate structural reforms within the energy sector, review the EPA recruitment exercise, provide targeted support for cocoa farmers affected by producer-price adjustments, and establish coordinated food storage, procurement, and distribution systems to support school feeding supply chains.
The petition said the issues collectively threaten energy sector viability, environmental governance, agricultural productivity, and national food security if urgent action is not taken.
“Overlooking the warning signs of the issues raised causes major setbacks in our national development. The issues spiral out of administrative control into urgent financial intervention, which derails economic growth.
“Let us also bear in mind that the costs to the ordinary citizen and taxpayer when we ignore these issues are usually greater than we know. I therefore seek urgent executive attention to these issues and deliberate efforts to carry along the affected citizens in the resolution of the issues,” he appealed.
