Concerned Farmers Association-Breman in the Upper Denkyira West District has warned that its members will not lease even an inch of their farmlands to Perseus Mining Ghana Limited (PMGL).
According to them, they are contend with their farming activities that enable them to fend for their families.
Perseus Mining, a West African gold company, has been operating in the Upper Denkyira Weste
Addressing a crowded press conference in Breman in the Central Region on Monday (November 27, 2023), the Chief Farmer of the Concerned Farmers Association of Breman, Emmanuel Boampong, bemoaned that the operations of Perseus Mining has been nothing short of “destruction of their cocoa farms, other plantations and rights violations.
The presser was attended by members of the association with many of them wearing red armbands, signifying their anger and frustration.
He stressed that members of the association were poised to use every legitimate means to “jealously” guard their farmlands and other properties.
“The advent of Perseus in the Upper Denkyira West District and for that matter in Breman has brought us [farmers] pain and suffering,” he lamented.
He said what even makes their situation scary was that they are sometimes followed by armed security personnel while going to their farms.
“We are a very peaceful people and we will continue to assert our rights to safeguard our properties,” he averred.
Mr Boampong, who is popularly known as Bojers,” went on to lash out at the Chief of Breman, Nana Yanoah Kosuo II, and the Head of family, Abusuapanyin Nana Yaw Nkrumah, whom he both said were in league with the mining company.
Against this backdrop, the chief farmer made a passionate appeal to President Akufo-Addo to intervene in the matter to avert any disturbances in Breman.
“We are making this plea to President Akufo-Addo because we believe his intervention in what is going on in Breman and by extension in the Upper Denkyira West would help avert any chaotic scenes in the district,” he said.
Some members of the association recounted their harrowing experiences with Perseus Mining.
Narrating her ordeal to journalists, Madam Ama Asantewaa, who lost her husband while trying to protect their farmland, expressed: “we can’t even to our farmlands because you are always intimated by very armed security personnel of Perseus.”
She continued that “the truth of the matter is that we the ordinary farmers in Breman continue to suffer at the hands of the mining company, and thus we feel abandoned by the powers that be.”
For his part, Elder Paul Minah said on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, he went to his farm and observed some ongoing drilling works and tracks.
“After my inquiries, I learnt that those ongoing works on my farm land were being carried out by Perseus and its agents. I was not happy with the development and so I confronted the company’s security personnel. And I want to state that I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that Perseus bears full responsibility of the damage caused on my farm,” Elder Minah.
Further, Elder Minah pointed out that Perseus’ operations in Breman continue to destroy fertile lands in Breman which development was denying a lot of the youth in the area from venturing into agriculture.
