Cocoa farmers threaten to take legal action against Olam.

Kwabeng (E/R) Nov. 14, GNA - More than 100 farmers at Akrofufu near Kwabeng in Atewa District have threaten to take legal action against Olam Company limited for not being able to pay to them their bonuses. They said several appeals made to the District office at Anyinam to have the bonuses paid to them proved futile.

Mr. Anthony Kofi Darkwa the chief farmer of the Company, in the area speaking to GNA at Akrofufu said the purchasing clerks who was to pay the bonuses bolted with the bonuses together with the company's buying cash of 40 million cedis.

Mr. Stephen Apau, the purchasing clerk, who is at large initially, told the farmers that their bonuses were used by the company to buy pesticide to spray their farms.

The farmers' investigation revealed that the clerk was only deceiving them and they decided to report the matter to the police, which made the clerk to bolt away.

Mr. Dankwa said the farmers reported the matter to the District Officer, who promised to pay them but payment was not forthcoming. When GNA contacted the office of the Company at Anyinam, Mr. Kwame Appiah the District officer confirmed the story and said the office was making efforts to pay the money.

He said he was recently posted to the area and only to came to found on record that Stephen Apau had run away with the farmers' bonuses including 40 million cedis belonging to the company.