Mr Enimil (right) receiving his awards from the DCE of the area
DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the Overall Best Farmer for Prestea-Huni Valley District of the Western Region has returned awards that he received at the 2017 Farmers’ Day celebration in the district to the Agriculture Department.
The award winner, John Enimil, 35, received a table-top fridge, bicycle, four knapsack spraying machines, five Wellington boots, nine cutlasses, 2 radio sets and a flat-screen TV.
Mr Enimil has a 120-acre rubber plantation, 52-acre cocoa farm, 10-acre sugarcane farm, 10-acre palm nut plantation, two-acre rice farm, two-acre cocoyam, fish ponds and 150 local fowls, among others.
He returned the entire award package to the Agriculture Department in the District a week after receiving his awards.
According to sources, Mr Enimil claimed the prizes given to the 2016 Best Farmer were far better than what the authorities gave to him.
Confirming the news to journalists, Mr Enimil explained that the package given to him was inadequate and demeaning.
He could not fathom why the overall best farmer in 2016 received a brand new tricycle (Aboboya).
“I was expecting the same prizes or even better than those presented last year. The district has embarrassed me and there is no way I would take the items, they should take them.
“They didn’t give me a common certificate and these people think I’m not a person, they take we, the farmers, for granted,” he indicated.
MP Reacts
The Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Babara Oteng Gyasi, called on Mr Enimil to exercise patience to allow the district to resolve the issue.
“All the districts were instructed to present prizes to only seven hardworking farmers, but we realized that there were many hardworking farmers in the district so we decided to increase the beneficiaries to 20.
“But the resources were not enough so we decided to share the little among the best farmers. But it’s unfortunate that the company that promised to donate a brand new tricycle did not honour the promise and that is why we could not get the “Aboboya,” she added.
She commended all farmers in the district for working hard to feed the populace and indicated that the district and her outfit would continue to reward hardworking farmers in the area.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Bogoso