Sixty-six workers of Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), a subsidiary of Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) at Assin Wurakese in the Assin Fosu Municipality of the Central Region, have been laid off within a month.
Apart from this, tons of cocoa pods have rotten, tons of palm kernels have been destroyed, leading to huge financial loss to Cocobod.
The occurrences were as a result of tension which has mounted at Assin Wurakese after a purported chief, known as Professor Okogyeaman Dankwa Ameyaw Okokroko, and his task force besieged the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana and stopped workers from performing their activities, claiming the land belongs to him.
In the event, the purported chief pulled down the Cocobod signpost and replaced it with his, bearing an inscription ‘Okogyeaman Agricultural Research Station’.
The Farm Manager at CRIG, Prince E. Mensah, said at a press conference that “the operation of the Research Institute has been halted, 66 workers were laid off within a month, cocoa pods went rotten, palm kernels were destroyed leading to huge financial loss to Cocobod”.
He indicated that the chieftaincy dispute in the area has affected the institute in many negative ways and the situation needs to be addressed.
The Chief of Assin Wurakese, Nana Dankwa Ameyaw II, condemned the action of Professor Okogyeaman Dankwa Ameyaw Okokroko, saying he does not even have the legal right to claim the land.
Nana Dankwa Ameyaw II has, therefore, called on the security agencies to immediately arrest Professor Okogyeaman Dankwa Ameyaw Okokroko for causing damage to national property.
The Chief of Assin Akenkansu, Nana Korankye Prempeh, who is also a shareholder of the land, wondered “how a professor can bring division and not development? He is not even a chief. If the security fails to arrest him, I will take the law into my own hands and deal with him accordingly”.
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