Some Customs Officers assist cocoa smuggling - Chief Farmer

Sunyani, Oct 20, 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." 20 Oct. 09