More than 50 acres of farmland cultivated with maize, groundnuts, pepper and cassava have reportedly been destroyed by sand-winning activities at Tsumkpo in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.

The affected farmers say the activities have destroyed their crops, degraded their farmlands and put their livelihoods at risk, with deep excavations also left close to farms and homes.

One of the affected farmers, 92-year-old Samuel Kateinor, said he had farmed and reared animals in the area for decades but had never witnessed destruction of farmland on such a scale.

“We farm here and also rear animals. We’ve been here for ages, but the people in Tokpo have given out the land to these companies without our knowledge,” he said.

The Assembly Member for the area, Israel Kweku Animle, said he visited the affected farms after receiving complaints from residents.

He said some of the operators were subsequently taken to the Shai Osudoku District Assembly, where their permits were examined.

According to him, the operators had permits for sand-winning, but the permits covered a different location and had expired.

He said the Assembly sanctioned the operators and later issued another permit, while he also engaged residents of Tokpo over the matter.

However, the District Chief Executive for Shai Osudoku, Ignatius Godfred Dordoe, disputed the claim that the Assembly had granted permission for sand-winning at the affected location.

He told the Ghana News Agency that the Assembly had not authorised any company or individual to undertake sand-winning activities in the area.

“We denied them. We asked them to go for the permit from the Minerals Commission first, but they never came back,” he said.

The conflicting accounts over the permits have raised concerns among residents, who are calling for an investigation into the activities and the competing claims over the land.

The farmers are also appealing to the authorities to halt further sand-winning activities and protect the remaining farmlands.

They warned that continued destruction could deprive the predominantly farming community of a major source of food and income while rendering the affected land unsuitable for agriculture.