COCOA farmers in the Western Region have been described as criminals for false reporting by foreign media who created and filmed scenes in cocoa farms in the region under the guise of officials of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
This was followed by a publication by the Qatar-based media organization Al Jazeera that a reporter visited Ohiampeanika in the West Amenfi District of the Western Region and posed as COCOBOD officials
The report
An Al Jazeera reporter who spoke through a Ghanaian interpreter told the unsuspecting farmers that they were from COCOBOD and their mission was to interact with them and document their challenges and together help provide solutions.
The farmers said that after discussing the production and answering their questions, the Al Jazeera team asked to visit a nearby cocoa farm for some videos to support the discussion, and the officials allegedly made many promises to the farmers.
The intention
A former member of the House of Assembly for the area, Samuel Ofori Asare, who appeared in an Al Jazeera report, said the media house did not inform him of his intentions.
“The interesting thing is that it was Sunday and he claimed to be a COCOBOD official and when he asked to go to one of the farms, a resident of Owusu Gyan, whose farm is nearby, agreed to take him to the farm,” he said. said.
Mr. Asare said that the team from Al Jazeera who are now known as pressmen “asked if they could ask some of the children to bring a basket of chocolates as part of the process.”
He said that Mr. Gyan’s three nephews who had returned from church were asked to change their clothes and go to their uncle’s farm.
surprised
“At the farm, the Al Jazeera reporter told the farmers to use machetes to harvest the pods from the trees and gave them to the children to run the film.
He said the Ohiampeanika community that was waiting for the support promised by COCOBOD officials was shocked to see the Al Jazeera TV report about child labor in their plantation.
“We do not use children or engage in child labor in the production of cocoa and therefore it is wrong for Al Jazeera to visit us on Sunday and be a COCOBOD official and make a scene to support this assumption and broadcast it to the world,” he said. said.
Asian region
He said since the false report has spread, the farmers will seek legal redress to ensure that journalists and the media are brought to book for criminalizing cocoa production not only in the Ohiampeanika region, but the entire region and country.
For his part, the Director of Special Services at COCOBOD, Charles Amenyaglo, described the actions of the Al Jazeera team in Ohiampeanika as criminal and a report has been submitted to the police.
The police, he said, are currently investigating the incident and have asked all those involved in the discussion that led to the false publication to cooperate with the police.
He said that Ghanaian chocolate farmers do not involve children in chocolate farming at the cost of education, etc.
Source: graphiconline.com
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