Compiled by Alfred Adams
COCOA farmers at Enchi may not harvest their cocoa beans this season. This is because their cocoa trees, which would eventually bear fruits for harvesting are being sacrificed in the name of an electrification project. The farmers have had their cocoa trees cut down as a result of the electricity project. A total of 23,000 cocoa trees belonging to twenty two farmers have been destroyed without even informing them. To make matters worse, they have also not paid any compensation.
The electricity project, which has resulted in the destruction of the economic trees, is being sponsored by the Government of Ghana under the Worthy Lamb Project. Under the project, a total of 107 communities and villages in the Enchi District would be hooked onto the national grid. But before this happens, farmers who have their cocoa farms along the road, leading to the 107 communities and villages, would have to pay the price of sacrificing their cocoa trees to pave way for the project.
The cutting down of the cocoa trees started last two years when the Worthy Lamb project kick-started in the District. In that period, a total of sixty farmers had their cocoa trees cut down without compensation. This year, the same project has resurfaced, leading to the continuous cutting down of the cocoa trees. One of the farmers, who have been leading the crusade for the District Assembly, which is supervising the project to pay compensation to the affected farmers is Opanin Paul Adjei Domfeh.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Domfeh expressed shock at the wanton cutting down of their cocoa trees. He said when the Contractor, working on the project began cutting down their cocoa trees, they petitioned the DCE of the Assembly to compel the Contractor to pay compensation to the affected farmers. He said the DCE refused and explained to them that the Worthy Lamb Project did not factor compensation to farmers whose cocoa trees would be cut down.
The DCE, Oscar Larbi, confirmed the cutting down of the cocoa trees belonging to the farmers, when he was contacted by The Chronicle. According to him, the farmers agreed that their cocoa trees should be cut down to pave way for the project. He added that a stakeholder conference was held with the farmers, where it was explained to them that their cocoa trees would be cut down as a result of the extension of electricity to their communities.
That, the DCE explained to this file, the farmers voluntarily agreed. “So for the farmers to turn round and complain about the cutting down of their cocoa trees is news to me,” Oscar Larbi told this reporter. According to the DCE, at the stakeholders’ conference, it was explained to the farmers that the Worthy Lamb Project did not factor compensation packages for cocoa trees they would cut down. He said the farmers who considered the electricity project as valuable, agreed that their cocoa trees should be cut down.
The leader of the aggrieved farmers, however, told The Chronicle that the DCE was being economical with the truth. Opayin Domfeh told this reporter that there was no stakeholders’ conference where the farmers agreed to the cutting down of their cocoa trees in the name of electricity project.