This revelation came during his vetting before Parliament's Appointments Committee on Monday, in Parliament House, Accra.

Citing recent reports from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr Opoku emphasised that regardless of whether the figure was 430,000 or 530,000 metric tonnes, both numbers reflected a worrying decline.

"... Mr Chairman, just recently during the transition engagement, COCOBOD submitted a list to us. In that document, they indicated that their production was 530 metric tonnes... But production has declined and that is the lowest in the last two decades," he said.

According to Mr Opoku, the decline in production had had severe financial consequences, particularly regarding Ghana's cocoa loan commitments.

Mr Opoku, also the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, referenced a syndicated loan of $800 million, which was taken to purchase an alleged 850,000 tonnes of cocoa.

However, Ghana was unable to meet the target by the end of the season, leading to a default on the loan.

"On the issues of default, Ghana went to the syndicated market and took a loan of $800 million to purchase 850,000 tonnes of cocoa. At the end of the season, we were unable to produce 850,000 tonnes. We defaulted on the loans," Mr Opoku explained.

According to Mr Opoku, the loan had been rolled over to this year, with a reduced quantity of 374,000 tonnes. He acknowledged that addressing this debt and other debts in the sector was crucial before making progress.