Two trade unionists in the Ivorian cocoa industry are being prosecuted for "defamation" and "slander" after criticizing the disruptions affecting this economically important sector, their lawyer told AFP on Wednesday.
Moussa Kone , of Synapci, and Koffi Kanga , of Anaproci, have repeatedly denounced the crisis affecting the Ivorian cocoa sector, which represents 14% of GDP.
Ivory Coast is facing significant difficulties selling its cocoa , hit by a slowdown in exports due to liquidity problems among buyers. Its ports and cooperatives have experienced blockages, AFP journalists observed.
The prosecutor in Abidjan has accepted the grounds for a complaint filed against the trade unionists by Yves Brahima Kone, director general of the Cocoa and Coffee Council (CCC), the regulatory body for the sector.
They are accused of citing "inaccurate" figures on the "number of trucks parked in ports" and on the "quantity of cocoa blocked" in Ivorian cooperatives, which allegedly "contributed to the fall in the price of cocoa on international markets ," their lawyer Erman Coulibaly told AFP.
The date of their trial remains unknown.
On January 14, the CCC's managing director told the media that there was "no blockage" in the cocoa sector.
But a week later, the then Minister of Agriculture, Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani , announced that the State would "put in place a purchase mechanism" for unsold cocoa stocks, estimated at around 100,000 tonnes.
This mechanism should help to reassure producers, some of whom have not been paid since November.
After reaching $12,000 a ton at the end of 2024, following several years of insufficient harvests to meet demand, cocoa prices have fallen on world markets since the middle of last year.
