Sene West DCE and the District Agric Director fights over who should be awarded on farmers’ day

The District Chief Executive for the Sene West and the Sene West Director of Agriculture engaged in a fierce fight over who to be awarded at the farmers’ day celebration.

Reports gathered by masemtvgh indicates that while the DCE wanted to turn the celebration into awarding his party faithfuls, the Agric Director insisted that the awards be given out to the deserving farmers who have been duly selected through a vigorous exercise.

The DCE, who was not happy with the decision by the Agric director, ordered his boys to pack all the items meant to be giving out to the deserving farmers back to his office.

This was revealed in a press statement issued out by Mr Amaniampong Dennis Mensah, the Communication Officer for the NDC in the Sene West. Kindly read the full statement below.

PRESS STATEMENT ON THE ABORTED FARMERS DAY CELEBRATION IN SENE WEST DISTRICT OF BONO EAST REGION.

Good day distinguished Ladies And Gentlemen of the media. Let me express my profoundest appreciation to you for honouring our invitation to this very important engagement. To our hardworking and resilient farmers gathered here, I say ayekoo to you all. To everyone who took time off to be part of this presser, we appreciate you.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen of Sene West District, we in NDC owe it a duty to ensure that, as our MPs hold the government of Akufo Addo to task, we also ensure that, our District Chief Executive Hon John Kofi Nyarba who represents the president in the district, do things in the best interest of the good people of Sene West. Pursuant to this natural duty imposed on us, we are here this morning to bring to light the reckless, disdainful and inhumane treatment that farmers in our district were subjected to by the District Chief Executive and his team of incompetent officials.

It is recalled that, the nationwide celebration of this year’s farmers’ day was without our district. In other words, to the best of our checks, Sene West District is the only District out of 216 that failed to celebrate their farmers on the day. This would not have been news if the failure was justifiable and same communicated to the farmers, Nananom and the good people of Sene West District. Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding the inability of the district to celebrate the farmers is completely unacceptable.

WHAT HAPPENED?

On that faithful day 2nd December, 2022, the euphoria had started Since it was announced that the program would come off, the preparation had began in earnest already. The atmosphere in Wiase (the venue for the event) was naturally depictive of something good to happen. But that would soon become the worse experience for the people of Sene West.

Farmers from across the district started arriving with some carrying farm produce such as Yam, Plantain, Cassava etc for display and sales. Some even brought Sheep and goats with the hope of getting some good market. I must say the grounds for the program was fully prepared with canopies mounted, chairs arranged and even the VIP section beautifully set up. Indeed, all was conclusively prepared for the kick-start of the program.

Let me also state that, the items which were donated to the assembly by philanthropists including the Hon. Member of Parliament, Hon. Kwame Ampofo Twumasi earmarked for the awardees was brought to the grounds and displayed to the view of the public including Nananom who were seated and waiting for the arrival of the DCE Hon John Kofi Nyarba and his entourage. The security officers who were deployed to the venue were all present and also waiting for the start of the program.

Ladies And Gentlemen, in a rather dramatic turn of events, as myself and a host of other NDC officers were seated among the crowd and waiting for the arrival of the DCE, the District Assembly pick-up drove in. Some men came down from the vehicle and started packing the things lined-up for the awardees into the car. We all looked on in amazement as they picked the items one after the other into the pick-up. They sped off and that ended everything. No one was told anything and till now, no communication or whatsoever has come from the District Assembly or the Agric Department.

OUR FINDINGS:

After the bizarre incident, myself and other NDC guys set out to find what must have occasioned such hazardous treatment of our hardworking farmers.

Our preliminary checks revealed that while the crowd was waiting for the DCE to come for the program to commence, the DCE and the District Director of Agric were engaged in a fierce fight on who gets awarded and who does not.

 

Apparently, the DCE and some NPP officers had prepared a list of their party supporters for the awards. The District Agric Director on his part insisted that, the deserving farmers who were selected through a vigorous process, must receive the awards. So because the Agric Director insisted on the right thing to be done, the DCE ordered his men to evacuate the items from the grounds to his office. As far as he was concerned, it is either the awards are dashed to his undeserving party boys or the whole programme halts. It is worth noting that, since Hon John Kofi Nyarba became the DCE, that has been his style of organising the program. Consistently, he has used the occasion to give awards to NPP polling station executives instead of deserving farmers. Very bad I must say!

For the records, we want to state that farmers’ day is not a platform to award cronies, friends, party boys and party loyal members but a prestigious platform to award our gallant farmers who have toiled all their lives especially under this Akufo Addo/Bawumia severe economic hardship to feed the country.

Ladies And Gentlemen of the media, Nananom and our farmers gathered here, it is pathetic that these things still happen in this 21st century. But before I end my delivery, I want to ask these few questions;

1. Since when did the Farmers day awards scheme become a platform for rewarding NPP party foot soldiers?

2. If the DCE and his government doesn’t appreciate the efforts of farmers in feeding the nation and so shortchanged them in that manner, especially when they are battling

with high cost of farm inputs, then why did they invited them to travel to Wiase in the first place?

3. Now that the awards ceremony did not come on, what happens to the donations that the DCE and his team received from cooperate bodies, businesses and individuals including that of the Hon. Member of Parliament? We are aware that, some people donated money, huge sums were received by the DCE and others donated items. So where are those monies now that the program did not come off?

4. Don’t Nananom, the farmers and the good people of Sene West District deserve an apology from the DCE and the Agric director for causing them such avoidable inconvenience Why is nobody telling us anything since this unfortunate incident happened? Or they simply don’t have respect for us?

Ladies And Gentlemen, on this note we want to call on EOCO to commence investigation into the whole processes. They should ascertain the amount of money realized from the donations and how those monies were used in the aborted celebration.

We also call on the Regional Minister and the President of Ghana Nana Akufo Addo to take disciplinary actions against Hon John Kofi Nyarba for;

a. Embarrassing the government and

b. For disrespecting the Chiefs and people of Sene West District.

We in NDC are of the view that, by this singular action of the DCE, he has become unfit to continue to occupy the position. His action is retrogressive, counterproductive and brutally discriminative. On this grounds, we call for stiff punishment for him to deter others who

might want to act alike in subsequent events.

We also call on the Minister Hon Adu Gyan to set up a task force to organize a belated ceremony to appreciate our vulnerable hardworking farmers.

To this end, I bring my speech to a close.

Signed

Amaniampong Dennis Mensah

Sene West Constituency Communication Officer

0241789297