Asene farmers demand compensation for farms destroyed by Accra-Kumasi expressway

More than 200 farmers at Akyem Asene, near Oda in the Eastern Region, have appealed to the government to pay them adequate compensation for their farms and plantations destroyed to make way for the construction of the new Accra-Kumasi expressway.

The affected properties include cocoa farms, food crop farms and oil palm plantations, which the farmers say were their main sources of livelihood.

The farmers, some of whom wore red pieces of cloth around their heads, necks and arms, staged a demonstration through some principal streets of Asene before gathering at the Asene durbar ground to address the media.

Leaders of the affected farmers, including Kofi Koranteng Sarpong, Yaw Peprah, Da Costa Asamoah and Yaw Ampomah Asiedu, took turns to describe the economic hardships they have endured since their farms were destroyed more than eight months ago.

They said the loss of their farms had made it difficult to meet their daily needs and pay the school fees of their children in tertiary institutions.

Mr Asamoah said he had struggled financially since his eight-acre cocoa farm was destroyed in February 2026. He said the farm had previously earned him an average annual income of about GH¢40,000.

Mr Koranteng Sarpong, meanwhile, expressed concern that the farms of more than 20 affected farmers, including his own, had not been measured by surveyors to determine the extent of the damage and the compensation due to them.

When contacted by the Daily Graphic, the Head of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) survey team for the project, Samuel Tieku, confirmed that some of the destroyed farms had not been measured to assess the extent of the damage.

He explained that the original width of the expressway was 120 metres but had been increased to 150 metres, a change that had affected additional farmers.