The Sugarcane Outgrowers Association of Ghana is demanding the immediate dissolution of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) overseeing the Komenda Sugar Factory, accusing the committee of failing to deliver on its mandate and stalling the revival of the factory.
In a press release issued on November 18, 2025, the Association said the IMC’s inability to meet its eight week deadline for submitting its report to the Presidency has dashed the hope of farmers who depend on the factory for their livelihoods.
“We, the leadership and the entire members of the Sugarcane Outgrowers Association of Ghana, are losing hope in the NDC Government due to the seeming lack of political will to operationalize the Komenda Sugar Factory,” the statement noted.
The group explained that their early optimism came from repeated public assurances by top government officials. They referenced President John Dramani Mahama’s commitment on February 6, 2025 during his Thank You Tour in Cape Coast, where he stated that the Komenda factory would be made operational.
They added that on February 26, 2025, Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare also told the Paramount Chief of Komenda that the government had prioritised the operationalization of the Sugar Factory.
Further assurances came on June 16, 2025, when Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor, Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness at the Presidency, engaged leaders of the Association in Komenda and promised that the factory would be revived sooner than later.
In July 2025, the Vice President, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, also assured chiefs and residents of Komenda that the factory would work again.
Despite these commitments, the Association said the IMC has been the weakest link in the chain of progress.
“The IMC was given eight weeks to present its report to the president for necessary arrangements to be made to operationalize the factory. As the eight week timeline has elapsed, we hoped the IMC had already presented the report for necessary action to be taken, but our hopes were dashed,” the group said.
They noted that they had expected the factory to feature in the 2026 budget but this did not happen, which they attribute to the IMC’s failure to deliver.
“We have come to the conclusion that we cannot blame the President, the Vice President or the Finance Minister. It is rather the Minister of Trade and Industry and the Interim Management Committee that have failed to deliver on their mandate,” the statement stressed.
The group believes that if the IMC had submitted its report on time, the factory would have secured a budget allocation.
“Our livelihoods depend on the revival of the Komenda Sugar Factory. We know President John Dramani Mahama and Vice President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang will not compromise on anything that will deny Sugarcane Outgrowers the opportunity to work to feed this factory. The factory must work again,” they said.
They concluded with a strong call for the IMC to be dissolved immediately, adding that the committee lacks the political will needed to revive the facility.
“There are clear indications that they are charting the same path as the previous government did, which kept the factory idle and made the farmers poorer,” the statement added.
PRESSER BY SUGARCANE OUTGROWERS
By Henry Eliud Yankey
