NPP MP Accuses Police of Supporting Sand Winning In His Constituency

The Member of Parliament for Ayensuano Constituency in the Eastern Region has accused the Nsawam Police of conniving with sand winners to destroy the farms of people in his constituency. According to him, the people of Ayensuano are settlers, who have leased the lands from their original owners, most of whom reside in Akuapem, Aburi and Larteh. Speaking on Neat FM, Hon Samuel Ayeh-Paye said, what has become a growing trend in the area is, after agreeing to allowing settlers use the land for farming, the landowners then enter into another agreement with sand winners. This, he opined, has lead to the destruction of large parcels of farm lands. However, what has become a matter of concern to the people Ayensuano Constituency is the way and manner in which the Ghana Police Service in the area is handling the issue. ��recently, a number of arrests were made including the Chief of Governor and five other Unit Committee Members, making six people, that they are armed robbers simply because they would not allow sand winners to destroy their lands. �They were arrested and charged for armed robbery because they used guns and sticks to drive away sand winners and I went to hire a lawyer for them. The lawyer went to battle the case out at the Nsawam Circuit Court but the court stated that it had no powers to bail armed robbers. The case lingered on for hours but the Nsawam police were unable to prove that the people were armed robbers so they were therefore granted bail,� he explained on NEAT FM. Hon. Ayeh-Paye further stated that his suspicion of connivance between the police and the sand winners stems from the fact that the Nsawam Police always come to arrest young men who could possibly disrupt the activities of the sand winners days before the sand winners drive their trucks into the towns. ��these young men are then charged with armed robbery and are therefore not granted bail. This paves the way for the sand winners to have a smooth operation�. Nonetheless, the MP for Ayensuano stopped short of alleged corruption by the Nsawam Police but was deeply worried of recurrence of such a coincidence. He further advised landlords who are planning to give out their lands for sand winning to rethink their decision because those who have already done so have regretted due to the fact that the lands have been badly destroyed and could no longer be farmed on.