Akroabo (Eastern Region), 16 March '99-

Farmers at Akroabo Cashpro Society, a cocoa buying agency in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District, are complaining bitterly about being cheated by a Purchasing Clerk who they accuse of tampering with the scale used in weighing cocoa beans. The farmers who preferred not to be identified for fear of intimidation, said any time they sent the same quantity of beans to other societies in the area, it fetched them more money than what they received at the Cashpro cocoa shed. They contended that Mr Lawrence Adjei, the purchasing clerk, should be removed from the area immediately since they could no longer tolerate his cheating. Mr James Tetteh, chief farmer for the area was not available for comment on the issue, but Mr Lawrence Adjei when confronted by newsmen, denied playing any tricks on the farmers. He claimed that the Assemblyman and the Unit Committee Chairman for the area knew that he does not cheat the farmers.