Ghanaian Cocoa Farmers: Loosing Farms to illegal Mining

BY ANIN AGYEI-

NEW AFRICA DAILY  NEWS, Accra, Ghana- A NUMBER of cocoa farmers at Kwahu West Municipality in the Eastern Region are gradually losing their cocoa farms to galamsey activities being perpetuated by some foreigners nationals.

Information gathered indicates that these foreign nationals have pitched camp in some communities and engaging in illegal mining popularly known as galamsey destroying over 1000 acres of cocoa farms.

The most affected areas are Essaase, Adumasua, Yaakorkor, Ahantanan and surrounding communities, sold out their cocoa farms to these galamsey operators who use gold detector machines for easy identification.

These illegal miners operate within the cocoa farms and the dangers of this operation is that, almost all the cocoa trees do not lust longer days after the galamsey activities and for that matter, the farms have been totally destroyed.

Sources say some foreign nationals from Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin have been deployed to engage in the galamsey business.

“We don’t know yet if the farmers are not aware of the implications towards their cocoa farm before handing over their farms to these foreigners,” some residents in these communities stated.

The queen of Yaakorkor Nana Ama Ofori has expressed disappointment over the situation but do not know how to engage the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to take measures to address the issues.

Moreover, Obo Gyaase Nana Dr. Okra Baadu III, a chief in the area in an interview said, he has compiled a full documentary which is yet to be release to expose some prominent people behind the act.

A famer and a resident in the area who spoke to the media said the land owners give these galamsey operators the opportunity to operate and expressed worry over the situation but the problem keep increasing day after day.

BY ANIN AGYEI, NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS, AFRICA CORRESPONDENT

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