The Dormaa-Ahenkro Circuit Court in the Bono Region has grantedGH¢40,000 bail to two persons, charged with illegal logging of trees.
Kwaku Daniel, 29, and Joseph Kumah, 23, both chainsaw operators, were to provide two sureties to be justified, and they will reappear in court on May 4, 2023.
They have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime and engaging in illegal logging in the Mpameso Forest, near Dormaa-Ahenkro.
Daniel pleaded not guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit a crime.
He was accused of harvesting timber (utile tree also known as rosewood) valued at GH¢18,000 without authorisation, subjecting forest produce to a manufacturing process without authority and using an unregistered chainsaw to convert timber into lumber without authority. Kumah, also pleaded not guilty to the same charges.
Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Timothy Ahiaduvor, told the court presided over by Samuel DjanieKotey that the complainant was a concession guard of Adras Timber Company Limited, owning a timber concession in part of the Mpameso Forest reserve.
The court heard that on March 26, 2023, whilst the complainant and his colleagues were on routine patrols within the concession, they met the accused with a chainsaw machine.
The prosecution said the accused were arrested and the chainsaw machine seized and the case was reported to the police.
The court heard that during investigations, the police realised the accused were cutting a utile tree when the chainsaw machine developed a fault.
The prosecution said accused slept in the forest waiting for their accomplice, K. Fosu, to bring a new chainsaw from Diabaa in the Dormaa West District, which resulted in their arrest. – Myjoyonline.com
