Woodworkers at the Sokoban Wood Village enclave in the Ashanti Region are urgently seeking intervention from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and relevant authorities to prevent a potential conflict between the association and traditional authorities over a piece of land.
Tensions are brewing as a local chief in the area has been involved in a tussle with woodworkers over a piece of land earmarked for phase two of the Sokoban Wood Village.
The situation escalated when alleged armed land guards, purportedly hired by the local chief, destroyed woodworkers’ sheds at the new site on Tuesday, November 21, causing heightened tension in the enclave.
Speaking to Citi News, an executive member of the Sokoban Wood Village Workers Association, Mohammed Kamil Ishaq, stressed that authorities at KMA endorsed their decision to erect the sheds, making them rightful owners of the land.
“So yesterday, land guards came to this site heavily armed, but we could not retaliate because we had no arms. We called the KMA to inform them that this is the situation over here, so they called for a meeting today, and we went to meet them. We’re hoping that they’ll cooperate with us and aid us because we don’t want any bloodshed,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the KMA, Henrietta Afia Konadu Aboagye, revealed that there had been assertions of money being distributed by the community’s chief to compensate woodworkers for taking over their lands. However, she assured members of the assembly’s commitment “to finding an amicable solution to the matter.”
