Farmer shares sad tale of gov’t takeover of cocoa farm

Ghanaian cocoa farmer in the Atiwa East district of the Eastern Region, Opanyin Kwaku Asare, has shared the story of how his cocoa farm was destroyed by the government.
He narrated that the destruction was to pave way for the construction of a hospital. However, this project since last year is yet to be started.
Relating this sad incident, the cocoa farmer told Happy FM’s Don Prah on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show: “Last year the government decided to open a hospital at Ngleshie here at Atiwa East. They destroyed 2 acres of my cocoa farm to start the construction of a hospital last year during the election period. Till now, the land has been abandoned and weeds have grown all over”.
He shares that the most painful aspect of the situation is that he has not received any compensation since his farm was destroyed.
“I have been given a document to the effect that my farm has been destroyed. We are five in number. They haven’t made know the amount that they will give us but we have a document to the effect that our farms have been taken. We have looked forward to receiving our money and we were told that they will go into a meeting to resolve the issue. After elections, I went to see the MP and she said there was nothing they could do so I should take it up to the DCE and that has yielded no result”.
The embattled cocoa farmer revealed that he did not make any profit from his cocoa farm and for that he is bitter that the government “deceived” him and treated him unfairly.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah