Help stop cocoa smuggling to neighbouring Togo - Kadjebi DCE beg Assembly members

Mr. Wilson Kwami Agbanyo, Kadjebi District Chief Executive (DCE), has appealed to Assembly Members to help stop the smuggling of cocoa to the neighbouring Republic of Togo.

He said the menace of cocoa smuggling, which had been on the rise in the district, needed to be stopped.

Mr Agbanyo made this appeal at the Second Ordinary Session of the Kadjebi District Assembly at Kadjebi in the Oti Region.

He said although the District Security Committee (DISEC) would deliberate on how best to curtail it, they would not succeed without the involvement of the Assembly Members, traditional chiefs, and citizens.

Mr Agbanyo added: “We all have a role to play to curtail the situation.”

He said though the culprits have networks, they would devise every necessary means to counter them.

The DCE said another security matter of concern is the Kadjebi Muslim community feud over the appointment of a Deputy Imam for Kadjebi Central Mosque, but with the joint intervention of DISEC, REGSEC and the Chiefs of Kadjebi, the situation was brought under control.

He announced that the Assembly procured 300 pieces of 150W LED streetlight bulbs with photocells, arms, bolts, knots, and washers for installation as a measure to improve security in the district.

Contributing, Mr Francis Songeh, the Assembly Member for Dodi-Kponkpa/Asuboe Electoral Area, said cocoa smuggling was indeed rising in the district as he saw some suspects conveying the produce to Togo through an entry point called Pillar 83.

“I was nearly lynched I tried recording their conversations,” Mr Agbanyo recalled.

Mr Songeh, who is also a staff of Ghana COCOBOD, blamed the Ghana Police Service for sleeping on their jobs and aiding smugglers.”

In a quick rebuttal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gyan-Mante Frempong, the Kadjebi District Police Commander, said his officers needed not to be blamed because it was not their mandate in preventing suspicious travellers from crossing to other countries.

He, however, appealed to the populace to volunteer information that would lead to the arrest of smugglers.

GNA