Two Russians and two Ukrainians have been hauled before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly engaging in illegal mining in the country without licence.
The accused persons have been remanded into police custody until May 31, 2017.
They are Farid Isaev, Vadim Potokin, Serhii Chepurniy – all engineers and Genadiy Rubec, a site manager.
According to the prosecutor, DSP Cletus Abadanlowra, the accused persons on or about May 22, this year at Manso- Tontokrom in the Amansie Circuit of the Ashanti Region, conspired to undertake small-scale mining without authority.
The pleas of the accused persons were not taken by the court, presided over by Justice Ruby Naa Ayikai Aryitey.
This was because the four, who were represented by Nana Fred Duah Agyeman, claimed they could not speak English and as such required a Russian interpreter.
The court had ordered the circuit court registrar to arrange for a Russian interpreter for the hearing to commence.
Prosecuting, DSP Abadanlowra said the complainant in the case is a police officer attached to the Lands and Forestry Ministry while the accused persons are from Russia and Ukraine and resident in Ghana, precisely Tontokrom in the Ashanti Region.
The Minister of Lands and Forestry, John Peter Amewu, recently gave an ultimatum to small-scale mining companies and illegal miners popularly known as galamsayers, operating in the country to stop their activities till their operations are regulated.
The government subsequently banned all forms of small-scale mining in the country till further notice.
On May 22, Mr John Peter Amewu and a team, including the complainant, went on a fact-finding tour at Manso Tontokrom to ensure that the ban was being complied with where they met the accused persons busily engaged in illegal mining (galamsey).
They were using heavy-duty equipment, which had degraded a vast land nearby, destroying crops and cocoa farms of the inhabitants.
They also polluted their source of drinking water.
The accused persons stated that they were employees of Geo Professional Services (GPS), a mining company.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
[email protected]
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