Farmer fined GHC120.00 for refusing to participate in communal labour

Kwasi Ben, a farmer, was fined GHC120 by a circuit court in Dormaa-Ahenkro, which is in the Dormaa Central Municipality in the Bono Region.

He had refused to do communal work without a good reason.

Ben, who is 38, pleaded guilty and gave a reason, but he was found guilty based on his own words. If he didn’t pay, he would have to spend a week in jail.

Mr. Kwadwo Akamanda of the Municipal Environmental Health Department told the court, which was led by Mr. Samuel Djanie Kotey, that the convict lived in Tweapiesie, a suburb of Dormaa-Ahenkro.

He said that the Department got a complaint from the community’s queen-mother and elders that Ben didn’t help clean up the environment on Friday, August 12, this year, when the Unit Committee had set up work for everyone to do.

After that, there was another exercise, but Ben didn’t take part in it either.

He said that on Monday, October 24, the convict and other non-participants were invited to the queen’s palace to explain why they didn’t want to take part in the exercise. However, Ben didn’t go because “there’s no queen mother in this community,” he said.

Mr. Akamanda said that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t get Ben to meet with the queen mother and other members of the Unit Committee.

So, on Wednesday, November 2, a criminal summons to appear in court was given to him.

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