Over 20 farmers, mostly women, in the Ashanti Region, have lost their livelihoods after their farmlands were allegedly destroyed by the chief of Odaho, Nana Kwadwo Adu Bobi II and a private developer.
The farmers, who cultivated crops on over 20 acres of land, claim the chief deliberately destroyed their farms for personal gain, using a proposed road construction as a pretext for land grabbing.
“I’ve worked on this land for decades, and now everything is gone. How will we survive?” lamented 70-year-old Maame Antwiwaa, an affected farmer.
According to an area assembly member, Hakeem Mohammed, efforts are in place to address the situation peacefully and protect the farmers’ rights.
“I wanted to get first-hand information, so I went to the Chief to ask him about that incident. He told me that he sold that land to a developer so it’s the developer that sent his guys to come and clear the land and so he has called the developer to come and compensate the people,” he said.
However, Nana Kwadwo Adu Bobi II, says he is committed to community development and claimed that the road project is intended to benefit the people.
However, he clarified that the recent destruction of the farmlands was carried out by a private developer, who happens to be his nephew and had legally purchased the land but destroyed the farms without his knowledge.
The chief expressed regret over the developer’s actions saying, “When he came to the land, he couldn’t even come to me, he (the developer) never came to me because he knew that I was so angry and maybe I was going to say something that won’t be good for him.”
“So, he just boycotted me and went and so when it (the news) came, I wasn’t pleased with that.”
Meanwhile, the affected farmers are demanding justice and compensation for their losses.