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Some Customs Officers assist cocoa smuggling - Chief Farmer
Sunyani, Oct 20, Ghanadot/GNA - Cocoa smuggling to neighbouring
Cote d'Ivoire is being aided by some customs officials, Nana
Asoma Gyan, Chief Farmer of Debiso B Cocoa District in the
Western Region, has alleged.
He said stopping the menace required concerted efforts because
in some instances farmers were not the only culprits, "as some
unscrupulous officials lead the smugglers".
Nana Gyan who made the allegation at Sunyani, at a meeting of
the Western- North Regional District and Zonal Chief Farmers
with their Queen Mothers, explained that one night, just before
the opening of the current cocoa season, he came across a custom
official on a motor-bike, escorting three cargo trucks loaded
with cocoa, travelling to La Cote D'Ivoire.
The chief farmer said when they confronted the officer the next
day he claimed they were empty trucks that went to the other
side of the border in the Debiso area to cart some goods.
The meeting, chaired by Nana Alhaji Alhassan Bukari, a chief
farmer, was to inaugurate a three-member committee to administer
the affairs of the region for the next six months to prepare the
grounds for the election of substantive officers.
Nana Gyan said: "I am ever ready to testify anywhere should a
body be set up to investigate and bring that particular officer
to book."
The meeting, therefore, suggested the need for the formation of
farmers' vigilante groups to monitor and assist in the
apprehension of unpatriotic farmers and officials involved in
smuggling.
Addressing the meeting earlier, Nana Bukari expressed the
appreciation of the Ghana Cocoa-Coffee and Shea-Nuts Farmers
Association to the government for the increase in the purchasing
price of cocoa.
"We are again showing our gratitude to the government not only
because of the cocoa purchasing price increment but also the
proposed government policies on cocoa farmers - the social
security pension plan and the old age housing scheme- which are
very laudable efforts in the right direction," the chief farmer
emphasised.
Nana Agyei Damoah, the Brong Ahafo Regional Chief Farmer,
appealed to farmers and individuals involved in the cocoa
smuggling business to refrain from the practice "because when
one is caught the minimum jail term is five years imprisonment."
GNA
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