Oh boy, so apparently, like, 5 tons of cocoa got caught by the National Office of Agricultural Products of Congo (ONAPAC) in Beni, in the Ruwenzori area of North Kivu. The authorities spilled the beans on Monday, revealing that they intercepted a batch of 118 sacks during a sneaky attempt to export it to Uganda. The prosecution got involved on Monday to check things out after ONAPC tipped them off. The director, Kaswera Syvialeghana Alphonsine, is all about keeping things legit for anyone trying to get into the cocoa business. She’s like, “Just follow the rules, guys.”
Apparently, cocoa smuggling in Beni is a big deal and the authorities are cracking down on it. The cocoa game is serious business, not like peanuts or something. There are specific national and international rules to follow, which Kaswera made very clear. The whole point of seizing this cocoa stash is to put a stop to the shady coffee and cocoa trade in the area, according to Mme Kaswera. The 5 tons of cocoa that got taken back to the official warehouse in Beni belong to 17 business folks living in Lume, Bulongo, and other nearby areas. Some of them were there when the prosecution did their thing, but they didn’t want to spill the beans to the media.
In Beni, there’s this whole price war going on with cocoa that’s leading to a lot of fraud, and the government is not having it. Right now, a kilo of cocoa goes for like 6 to 7.5 US dollars in Congo, but it’s a bit pricier in Uganda. The illegal cocoa trade in Beni has been linked to funding armed conflicts and the activities of Islamist ADF rebels, who have been accused of killing thousands of civilians since 2014 in Beni. So, yeah, it’s a pretty big deal. Not really sure why this matters, but hey, that’s the scoop from Beni.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like there’s a whole lot of drama surrounding this cocoa situation in Beni. The authorities are really cracking down on the whole smuggling thing, and it’s causing quite a stir among the local business owners. With the prices fluctuating between Congo and Uganda, it’s no wonder people are trying to make a quick buck by smuggling cocoa across the border. But hey, rules are rules, right? And Kaswera is not messing around when it comes to enforcing them. Let’s see how this all plays out in the end.
