Bono Region: 8 persons arrested for alleged illegal logging
Eight illegal chainsaw operators have appeared before the Wamfie Magistrate court in the Dormaa East District of the Bono region for harvesting 36 different species of timber valued at GH₵177, 701.70.
They’re in court for also creating 1.3Km access road and construction of two siding area with the total area of 0.4 hectares and other species of trees valued at GH₵12,000 .00 in the Mpameso Forest Reserve at Dorma Ahenkro without authority.
The men were apprehended by authorities for operating chainsaws without the necessary permits and licenses.
The accused persons were Matthew Opoku, 57 years; Kwadwo Poku, 48 years; Samuel Nsor, 42 years; Ebenezer Obeng, 34 years are drivers respectively and Kwame Nkrumah, 35 years; Isaac Boateng, 21 years; Twumasi Emmanuel, 28 years; Adu Gyamfi, 29 years are drivers’ mates and all residing at Kasapin.
They have been changed with conspiracy to commit crime, contrary to section 23 of the criminal offence ACT 1960 (ACTS 29); unlawful contrary to section 152 of the criminal offence ACT 1960 (ACTS 29); felling, crosscutting and hauling of timber logs without authority contrary to section 1 (a), (b), and (c) of the forestry protection ACT 264 of 2002 and causing unlawful damage to property contrary to section 172 of the criminal offence ACT 1960 (ACT 29).
They all pleaded not guilty to the four charges.
The Wamfie Magistrate court on Thursday, 5th September, 2024, granted each of the accused individuals a bail amount of 80,000 Ghanaian cedis, totaling 640,000 cedis collectively with two sureties each.
The accused are required to pay the bail amount in order to be released from custody while awaiting their trial.
Furthermore, they are expected to report to the Wamfie police every Tuesday at 10 AM until they re-appear on October 7, 2024.
Prosecuting, Detective inspector Godfred Mensah told the court presided over by His Worship Eugene Ntim-Boateng that on August 27, 2024, around 0900 hours, the complainant and his rapid response team of the Forestry Services Division conducted patrols in the Mpameso Forest Reserve at Dormaa Ahenkro and upon hearing the sound of a chainsaw machine, they followed up where they sighted the accused persons in the reserve.
D/Insp. Mensah said the complainant and his team discovered that the accused persons had allegedly felled 36 different species of trees, converting them into lumber.
According to the prosecutor, the team arrested the accused persons and confiscated 3 tractors, a chainsaw machine and handed them to the police and upon police interrogation the accused persons admitted entering the reserve and harvesting the trees.
The prosecutor said they were arraigned before the Wamfie Magistrate court a day after passing a night at the Dormaa Divisional Police Headquarters for legal action to be taken.
However the authorities are sending a clear message that illegal logging will not be tolerated in Ghana.
The illegal operation of chainsaws in Ghana is a serious offense, as it contributes to deforestation and threatens the country’s natural resources. Authorities are cracking down on illegal logging operations in an effort to preserve Ghana’s forests and combat climate change.
Meanwhile, the Dormaa Forest District manager, Dominic Attebare-Oteng, is calling for collective efforts especially a swift collaboration between the military and police to augment the rapid response team of the Forest Services Division to protect the forest reserve.
He said if the situation was not brought under control, then the objectives of the government’s Green Ghana Initiative could not be achieved.
” We are not going to sit down to fold our arms for these people to destroy our Forest Reserve we will fight, to secure the forest reserve and the resources. So we are calling on everybody, the communities, the chiefs, the assembly members, to help us protect the Mpameso forest reserve”, he stated.