Five illegal miners jailed 28 months

Tarkwa (W/R), June 12, GNA - A Tarkwa Circuit Court has sentenced five suspected illegal miners to six months imprisonment for mining in an unauthorized area.

The convicts Nana Adu, Augustine Alele, Daniel Aboah, Pascal Albert and Kwabena Appiah pleaded guilty to the charge.

Mr Samuel Obeng Diawuo, the presiding judge, said since the illegal miners popularly called galamsey operators are not put off by the fine they pay, he will now impose a custodian sentence on any illegal miner who appears before the court.

He said each convict could have served a term of 3 years imprisonment but he decided to reduce it to six months to serve as a warning to those mining haphazardly in water bodies and forest reserves.

Chief Inspector Florence Tawiah told the court that the convicts together with two suspects who are now at large reside at Sewum.

She said on February 29 the convicts together with the suspects went and unlawfully mined in a pit lying on the farm of Papa Tomfo and under the care Obed Nyarko.

She said after they have obtain the rich ore from the pit they worked throughout the night till the following day as they waited for Nana Adu and Augustine Alele who had then left to the house.

Inspector Tawiah said as soon as the two left Daniel Aboah and Pascal Albert saw Obed Nyarko emerged from a foot path and walked towards where they were sitting and at a distance of about forty meters he stopped and fired a warning shot.

She said Nyarko got to his house and met some irate youth who were looking for him to be arrested.

Inspector Tawiah said Nyarko was over powered and taken to the customs check point near Sewum and the incident was reported to the officer on duty and he escorted him to the police station.

She said at the police station Nyarko identified the convicts as among those who assaulted him and the court in its ruling granted bail in sum of 30,000 Ghana cedis to Obed Nyarko for firing the gun and he will re-appear before court on June 20.

GNA