Ashanti cocoa farmers accuse PCs of cheating

Some Cocoa farmers in Ashanti have accused purchasing clerks of the Licensed Cocoa Buying Companies (LBCs) of cheating through illegal adjustment of weighing scales.

They claimed some of the clerks weighed a bag of cocoa at between 61 and 65 kilogrammes instead of the approved 60 kilogrammes.

Nana Kwame Amankwatia, Ashanti Region Chairman of the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association (GCCSFA), levelled the accusations when he led some prominent farmers in the region to call on Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, the Ashanti Regional Minister.

He said the activities of some of the LBCs and their clerks were a major source of worry, citing their abuse of the Akuafo Cheque system and resort to the use of hanging scales that had given rise to high incidence of pilfering of cocoa beans.

Nana Amankwatia called for government's intervention to bring the offending LBCs and their clerks to order to enable farmers enjoy the fruits of their labour.

He told the Regional Minister that the arrangement under which the association deducted a kilogramme of cocoa on each bag of cocoa sold by farmers and which in the past helped them to support the development programmes of their communities by way of feeder roads maintenance, building of schools and clinics was being sabotaged by the LBCs.

''Some of the companies are simply refusing to go along with the kilogramme deductions.''

Mr Boafo said he had taken note of the concerns raised by the farmers and gave assurance that steps would be taken to stop the cheating.

He spoke of plans to hold a joint meeting with the farmers and the LBCs to discuss ways of promoting efficiency in the cocoa industry.