Some inhabitants of Dokokyina in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region have raised a red flag against attempts to relocate them as a result of the construction of the Bui Dam. They claim that officials of the Bui Power Authority (BPA) have falsified documents to indicate that a majority of the people of the community have agreed to be relocated. The Chief Executive Officer of the BPA, Jabesh Amissah-Arthur, claims the Authority undertook a validation of family size and number of rooms owned per household at Dokokyina village in July, 2009, and 36 out of a total of 43 households, that took part in the exercise, indicated their willingness to relocate. He said about seven households did not partake in the validation exercise and said they did not wish to be resettled. Mr. Amissah-Arthur claimed that records available to BPA, showed that 165 out of about198 residents of Dokokyina wish to be resettled. “BPA consulted the community about their preferred location for resettlement. The Dokokyina chief, Nana Kofi Amoah, also dispatched a delegation of three persons to have a look at the site selected by Bui village as their preferred resettlement site. After this, they came to a consensus to be resettled adjacent Bui village at the Resettlement Part B Site. The chief of Dokokyina has confirmed in writing that they are willing to be resettled,” said Mr. Amissah-Arthur. However, information gathered by this reporter proved that Nana Kofi Amoah has been removed from the stool by his kingmakers January 2010. Nana Kojo Kumah Domaka, the new chief-elect, has challenged the authorities of the BPA on the figures quoted as those of Dokokyina people wishing to relocate, and insisted that BPA had used falsified data to justify the relocation exercise. According to him, Dokokyina has a total population of 271 people and 121 houses. The number of residents wishing to relocate is 109 from 57 homes, while those resisting the relocation are 162 with 64 homes. “Officials of Bui Power Authority cannot claim to know my own community better I do, when did they conduct a population and housing census of the community and which exercise they were now validating with those figures that put Dokokyina’s population at an estimated 198. They are not even sure about the population figures,” Nana Domaka challenged. Nana Domaka said the land was their greatest economic asset and they would not leave for any body to come and settle on it and claim as their own just because government agency has said Dokokyina would become an island after as a result of the construction of the dam. “Don’t human beings settle on islands?” he queried. He said, “The people are prepared to fight back to claim their lands and Bui Power Authority should not take advantage of them simply because they are illiterate. They have rights like everybody else.” Nana Domaka said there had not been a single letter from BPA to the community since work commenced on the Bui Dam project in 2007 about their intended relocation. He intimated that it was only in July 2009 that officials of BPA came to tell them, for the first time, about resettling the community. He stated that BPA was quite clear on the option to either relocate or stay put at Dokokyina and 192 of them from 64 houses opted to stay back. “The remaining 109 residents from 57 homes are those who have agreed to relocate and they are in the minority. We can’t be forced to relocate to a new and smaller place decided by somebody else, and where we shall become overcrowded over time with population growth,” he concluded. Nana Domaka explained that Dokakyina has vast lands and they can move to a place they can still call their own rather than become strangers and without authority over land at a place chosen for them. “I deem this a violation of our rights,” he said emphatically. On why Nana Kofi Amoah was removed from the stool, Mr. Domaka said the kingmakers assigned six reasons. Paramount among them are his alleged attachment to the “small faction” that was willing to be relocated and therefore he definitely cannot be chief for all of them. Nana Amoah was also accused of leasing Dokakyina lands to Ivoirians to farm on without consulting the council of elders; he connived with the Bandahene to bring in Fulani herdsmen to live on a part of Dokakyina lands; attempting to cede Dokokyina lands to the Bandahene; and refusal to get married since he was installed as chief of the village five years ago, a thing he had promised doing in line with the traditions and customs of Dokakyina people. Credit: Innocent Samuel Appiah/The Heritage