Old Tafo (E/R), Sept. 30, GNA - The chief of Akim Old Tafo, Osabarima Adusei Peasah, 1V has denounced the group of citizens protesting against the request for a piece of land by the ARK Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, to put up a project in the town.

In a reaction to a petition to the Minister of Food and Agriculture by a 16-member group of protesters, he told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Tuesday that when the Foundation approached him for a piece of land, he asked that surveyors to demarcate the plot needed from the stool land before discussions are held on the terms of leasing the land. He expressed surprise that the so-called petitioners did not even wait for the completion of the survey and discussions to be held between the two parties before rushing with the petition.

Osabarima Peasah said he considered that the plot on demand was for a project that would benefit the entire community and said if the petitioners had any grievance about it, they should have approached him for discussions to arrive at amicable solution but not to resort to writing to the authorities "seeking to assassinate my character to them."

He expressed surprise that the group were opposing the request by the Foundation, saying, "if I had turned down the request, they will be the same people who would have criticised me for not seeking the welfare of the people."