The prolonged inactivity of the Komenda Sugar Factory is depriving residents of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA) area of jobs, markets and wider economic opportunities, the Chief of Simiw, Nana Nguando IV, has said.
Nana Nguando IV, who is also Adontehene of the Edina Traditional Council, said the continued delay in restoring operations at the factory had become a major concern for communities that had expected the facility to transform the local economy.
He made the remarks at the 2026 Simiw Enyankor Festival, where he appealed to the government and other stakeholders to urgently resolve the challenges keeping the factory from operating.
According to the traditional ruler, the facility has remained largely inactive for nearly two years despite repeated assurances that it would be revived.
“The youth are struggling for jobs,” Nana Nguando IV said, stressing that a fully operational factory could provide employment while creating a ready market for local farmers.
He said the economic benefits of the factory would extend beyond direct employment to farmers, traders and other businesses within the KEEA area.
The Komenda Sugar Factory was constructed in 2014 and commissioned in 2016 at an estimated cost of about $35 million. It was expected to generate more than 7,000 direct and indirect jobs and contribute to reducing Ghana’s reliance on imported sugar.
However, successive attempts to restore production have not yielded the expected results.
Trade Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare told Parliament in February that the factory had been disconnected from electricity and water supplies over unpaid bills and required refurbishment.
The government has indicated that it intends to restore operations by the end of 2026 with the participation of a strategic private investor.
Nana Nguando IV, however, said residents had waited long enough and were looking for concrete action to bring the facility back into production.
He also reminded the government of the political commitments made by the NDC before returning to office, particularly its criticism of the previous administration over the failure to operationalise the factory.
“When the NDC campaigned, we condemned the NPP’s failure to operationalise the Komenda Sugar Factory which alone could create over 7,000 jobs in this constituency, so that we would not have to import sugar,” he said.
“It is getting to two years now and the factory, which is a well-known Mills-Mahama project, remains abandoned. The youth are struggling for jobs.”
The traditional ruler urged President John Dramani Mahama to treat the revival of the facility as a priority and ensure that the factory begins producing rather than remaining the subject of repeated promises.
The renewed appeal follows a similar call by NDC National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia during a thank-you tour in February for government intervention to restore the factory and the jobs associated with it.
For residents and traditional authorities in the area, the key issue now is not another commitment to revive the facility but the actual return of production and the economic activity the factory was expected to generate.
