Twenty-five persons have been sentenced to more than 200 years for various illegal mining offences by the Tarkwa Circuit Court on August 31, 2023.
The sentences vary between 15 and 25 years depending on the severity of the offences and 10,000 penalty units imposed on each of the convicts under the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995 by the court presided over Hathia Ama Manu.
The convicts were all arrested at different locations in 2021 and prosecution was conducted by the Sekondi Office of the Attorney-General.
They were charged with conspiracy to engage in illegal mining as well as the substantive offence of illegal mining.
In the first case, Richard Kumasi, four others were charged with conspiracy to commit crime and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in hard labour.
In the second case, Sampson Mefe and four others were arrested on September 8, 2021, by the Assembly Member for Himan Electoral Area, Alex Baako, and eight youths of the community for engaging in illegal mining in River Ankobra.
The others were Eric Beyetua, Nkubi Francis, Timothy Kumordja, and Larbi Evans.
In another case, Gordin Naah, Kojo Amoo, a Range Manager at the Forestry Division, Tarkwa, reported that, at about 10.20am on February 2, 2021, Naa, Bismark Joribon, Abdulai Asongmene and Nicholas Dunuanua, were found engaging in illegal mining at Ndumfri forest reserve, near Simpa.
The prosecution told the court that about one and half acres of the forest had been destroyed by the illegal miners, including the accused.
Gordon Naah and the other accused were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for conspiracy to mine illegally and illegal mining.
The fourth accused, a juvenile, was remitted to the Juvenile Court for sentencing.
In another case, accused, George Fynn, was sentenced to 15 years after he was arrested at Tarkwa, but two other accomplices, Effah and Christian, absconded.
In the case of John Domotey five others, the court sentenced each of them to 15 years imprisonment.
The prosecution told the court that the convicts arrested for engaging in illegal mining in River Ankobra.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
