Chief denies destroying farms without paying compensation

Nana Kwesi Ntorful II, the Chief of Atwereboanda in the Shama Traditional Council, has denied media allegations that he authorised the destruction of food and cash crops of some farmers in the area without paying appropriate compensation to them.

He said 13 out of 24 farmers whose crops were affected had been compensated, while negotiation was ongoing to pay the rest.

Nana Ntorful made this known at a press briefing held at Atwereboanda in the Shama District to respond to allegations made by the aggrieved farmers.

The chief said he used due process to acquire the land from the Royal Anona Family of Atwereboanda, family heads and individuals who owned land in the area for the cultivation of a rubber plantation.

He also denied allocating some portion of the land to illegal small-scale miners for mining purposes and asked anyone who had issue with the compensation package to provide the necessary documentation to claim them.

Nana Ntorful stated that within the past eight years since he was enstooled as chief, he had constructed a teachers’ bungalow, chief’s palace and community bath-house, and also maintained peace and harmony among the populace.

Meanwhile, Mr. Godson Nuvi, the spokesperson for the aggrieved farmers, told the GNA in a separate interview that, about 200 acres of land were cleared by the chief which affected 34 farmers whose food and cash crops were destroyed without paying the appropriate compensation package.

He said the land stretched to other adjoining communities including Borkokokpe, Annto-Aboso, Yabiw and Shama, and indicated that their great grandparents had been farming on the land since the 1940s and paid royalties to the land owners every year.

He regretted that some farmers took loans from the bank to cultivate the crops and had not redeemed their loans, therefore putting them into financial difficulties.

Mr. Nuvi stated that the affected farmers had petitioned the Shama District Chief Executive, Mr. Eric Cobbinah, the Western Regional Minister, Mr. Paul Evans Aidoo and the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Alex Isaac Quainoo, to intervene in order to resolve the impasse.

In a related development, Nana Stephen Abakah, a senior elder of Anona Royal Family, the King-Makers of the town, debunked media allegations made by the former chief of Atwereboanda, Nana Twentwen Sarfo that the current chief was wrongfully installed.

He said Nana Twentwen Sarfo was destooled by the Royal Anona Family over a decade ago after he vacated the stool and went to stay in the United States for three years which resulted in a lot of lawlessness and insecurity in the town.

Therefore, he said, the King-Makers performed all the necessary traditional rites and rituals in 2008, to install Nana Kwesi Ntorful II, as the new chief.

He, therefore, challenged the former chief to seek legal redress in court, instead of making false allegations in the media.