Komenda residents to demonstrate on August 13 over lease of sugar factory to Indian investors

The Concerned Citizens of Komenda Traditional Area have written to the Ghana Police Service to announce their planned demonstration slated for Tuesday, August 13, 2024.

The demonstration is aimed at calling for the annulment of the Komenda Sugar Factory lease agreement with an Indian company.

In a press release sighted by GhanaWeb Business, it cited non-compliance with procedural requirements and stakeholder engagement protocols as some of the red flags raised.

The group also called on the government to reverse its decision to import raw sugar and restore the Komenda Sugar Factory’s purpose of utilizing local sugarcane outgrowers.

The convenor of the group, Samuel Awudzah, said about 2,000 participants from the Komenda Traditional Area and its surrounding regions are expected to partake in this demonstration.

 The demonstration, he said, was in compliance with Section 1, Clause 1 of the Public Order Act, 1994 (Act 491).

This section mandates individuals or groups to notify the police at least five days prior to any special event in a public place.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, said on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, that in a bid to revive the collapsed Komenda Sugar Factory situated in the Central region, the government has planned to lease the facility to Indian investors for about 20 years.

He noted that the lease agreement would be subject to renewal once the contract is signed.

K.T Hammond stated that GH¢45million was expended by the government to keep the Komenda Sugar Factory running.

It would be recalled that the government of Ghana handed over the Komenda Sugar Factory to a strategic investor in November 2019 after a three-and-a-half-year break.

The $35million factory, which was commissioned under former president John Dramani Mahama, has not been working since May 2016.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo disclosed in September 2018 that the sale of the factory was due to several deficiencies, including the unavailability of sugarcane in sufficient quantities in the catchment area.

SA/OGB