National best farmer is NDC foot soldier

Millions of farmers across the nation, who are toiling tirelessly to feed the nation, are going to be gnashing their teeth in absolute distress over the decision by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to unjustifiably award an activist of the party as the 2012 National Best Farmer.

On Friday last week, thirty-eight (38) year-old Lemuel Kwashie Martey of Mannah Farms Limited in Accra, was adjudged the 2012 National Best Farmer among all the thousands of redoubtable farmers in Ghana.

For his prize, he will have a three-bedroom fully furnished house and a pick-up vehicle.

However, investigations conducted by this paper at Mataheko, a suburb of Afienya in the Kpone Katamanso District in the Greater Accra Region indicates that the 2012 best farmer, Mr. Lemuel Kwashie Martey has done little or nothing to deserve such award, or even to be named as the regional best farmer let alone the national best farmer.

Scouts sent by the Daily Searchlight to Mataheko yesterday, where Mannah Farms is located, unravelled the mystery that surrounds the whole scheme to award Mr. Lemuel Kwashie Martey as the best farmer for 2012 at Abokobi.

It was established by this paper that Mr. Kwashie who has been adjured the 2012 best farmer has only about 5 acres of rice farm and a big pool of water he has termed as a dam where he breeds fish at Mataheko.

According to the people, who spoke to Daily Searchlight scouts, they have registered their displeasure against the government and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for not doing diligent work in finding the background of Mr. Kawshie before giving him the best farmer award for the year 2012.

A source who took the scouts around the 5 acre rice farm and the dam said the land in which Mr. Lemuel Kwashie Martey was farming on was the same place the 2006 best farmer used and apart from that Mr. Kwashie do not have any livestock, no cattle ranch whatsoever to warrant him winning this noble award.

Tradition has it that the best farmer needs to be able to grow varieties of crops and also have livestock in addition to be able to win the award.

Some of the farmers in the country who spoke to this paper said they are very shocked of the whole incident.

“We are very unhappy about this situation and we are urging the ministry to immediately investigate this matter because the real farmers are not been recognized and those who are not farmers and loyal to one particular government are been given awards,” fumed old man at Mataheko.

This paper also established that Mr. Kwashie Martey who won the 2012 best farmer is also loyal NDC foot soldiers and executive at Kpone Katamanso. He has normally been going to people's farms to brag that he owns the farm when he does not.

This paper can say on authority that the village near Mataheko which Mr. Kwashie has named as rice city has only one rice mill and a generator.

When this paper called him to clarify the allegation, he said it was a team of learned people from all the universities in the country who came to him to check his activities and if anything the paper could contact them and the ministry to verify for the whole public.

When Mr. Kwashie Martey was asked again by this paper to even show any other farming activity apart from his five-acre rice farm and the fish pond, he could not but insisted that he still deserves the national best farmer award.