Coffee-cocoa sector: SYNARFA-CI demands transparency, fair compensation and the release of cooperatives

SYNARFA-CI is concerned by the referral of cooperative officials to the Economic and Financial Police and the precautionary suspension of Thibault Yoro announced by OIA Café-Cacao CI. In its October 25 statement, the OIA said payments were allegedly sought to facilitate cocoa unloading, while cooperatives reported paying without receiving the promised unloading; it said Yoro had no mandate for these efforts. The union says the allegations must be investigated while respecting the presumption of innocence and calls for an independent audit of residual stocks and the entire operation. Cooperative presidents reportedly said that people claiming to belong to the OIA collected as much as 100 million CFA francs; SYNARFA-CI wants the audit findings published and corrective action taken.