The Chief of Dawhenya, a farming community in the Ningo -Prampram District, Nene Tetteh Kodie Arden IV has warned encroachers of farmlands around the Dawhenya irrigation site that, measures will be taken by the traditional council, to stop them from illegally taking over lands devoted to farming activities on a commercial scale.

Located in a green belt zone, construction works on the site started in the 1970s during the Kutu Acheampong regime, where the irrigation project was to serve the needs of farmers in the area.

The irrigation setup covers an area of about 980 hectares and is a major agriculture hub which used to employ thousands of people from within and outside of the district.

Included in the project is the river Dechidaw which feeds water into a solar-powered electrical pumping station. The station then delivers the water to the farms through a canal which is used by the farmers.

But activities of land encroachers are posing a major threat to the livelihoods of thousands of people who rely on the farms as a source of employment, so far, several hectares of land including farms have been illegally taken over by unnamed persons for housing projects. Backed by gun-wielding persons constituting themselves as handguards, the encroachers recently cut off the canal that feeds several farms that rely on the running water for their operations.

The situation has become a major cause for concern and the traditional authorities have decided to take the necessary steps to address it. On Monday in the company of his elders and officials from the Dawhenya Irrigation Development Authority, Nene Tetteh Kodie Arden IV visited the affected farms to see the scale of lands illegally taken. Speaking to reporters from PramcitiTV, the YouTube channel located in Prampram, Nene Arden IV warned those behind the lang grabbing to stop. He said the traditional council will not sit down and allow their lands to be taken away from the farmers.

“We are not going to sit down and allow them to carry out those illegal activities here.”




Nene Arden IV also called on the government to get involved and flush out those behind the illegal activities. He also denied the involvement of either himself or the traditional council in the operations of the encroachers.

“We’re aware of what benefits these lands give to us so we’ll not (lands) to individuals to just destroy the farm.”

Meanwhile, management of the Dawhenya Irrigation Authority says the lives of their workers are being threatened by guards protecting the stolen lands. They want the police to intervene before issues get out of hand.




Additional files from PramcitiTV