Man jailed 12 months for stealing tubers of cocoyam

A father of four, Gemeni Atsu has been jailed for 12 months for uprooting cocoyam in a farm entrusted in his hands in a village around Assin Fosu.

According to Mr. Atsu, he was employed to work on the farm by the owner and be paid after three years.

He told crimecheckghana.org that the agreement between him and the farm owner required that he be paid Seven Thousand Ghana cedis (Ghc 7,000) after three years.

He also said the farm lord agreed to provide him with food items because he lived on the farm in the village and could not go to town to buy food.

Mr. Atsu said along the line, his boss broke his part of the agreement and ceased sending him food.

He said there was no option but to fall on the cocoyam on the farm to survive because it was quite a distance to travel from the farm to Assin Fosu.

After some time, Atsu decided to visit the farm owner to find out why he has broken that part of the agreement.

Issues did not go well as according to him the farm owner confronted him when he asked about the food.

This Atsu said resulted in the exchange of words with his boss who threatened to cause his arrest.

“He told the police that I pulled a knife on him. That was a lie. He rather tackled me for asking him to provide me food as we agreed. He told me he would never give me any money if that was what I was seeking to get,” he narrated.

Atsu said he was subsequently arrested when he went back to the village for stealing the cocoyam and also threatening his boss.

Mr. Atsu said a police officer wrote his statement because he could not read and write.

Also, the Investigator who handled his case he alleged, convinced him to admit he was guilty in Court though he claimed he was innocent.

The Court handed him a twelve months sentence to be served at the Ankaful Main Camp Prison in default of a fine.

Crime Check Foundation (CCF) with support from a US-based donor, Delight Lawal paid his fine for his release.

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