The Minerals Commission says a thorough investigation it conducted on the Nkroful district court magistrate’s bungalow saga has revealed that the life of Her Worship Awo French-Amissah was in danger due to “ongoing” illegal mining activities behind the building.
The Commission has therefore insisted that the effect of illegal mining activity, if any at all, on occupants of the bungalow, which is on a higher altitude, would be minimal.
It also contends that GSP readings taken during the investigation indicated that operational areas of the illegal mining and location of the bungalow were too long, more than 130 meters apart, to threaten French-Amissah’s security and health.
Additionally, the Commission confirmed that all mining activities behind the bungalow were halted on June 9, 2022, with no equipment on site.
These are some of the findings contained in a 14- page report submitted after the investigation.
Following instructions from the Chief Executive Officer and the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, a team from the Takoradi office of Minerals Commission, on Saturday July 30, visited Ellembele to conduct an investigation into Awo French-Amissah’s reasons for moving out of her official bungalow.
The Ellembele DCE, Kwasi Bonzoh, the District Coordinating Director, Emil Tawiah Atsu, Assembly member for Teleku Bokazo, Hemans Blay, and ACP Hlordzi Godact Dodzi, the divisional police commander, were extensively interviewed by the team.
ACP Dodzi, who still resides in the building, which also housed French-Amissah, corroborated the Commission’s findings, stressing that the “illegal mining behind the building did not have any impact on them”.
Gathered info
Information available to Daily Statesman, however, indicates that the Judicial Service Administrator, Diana Naana Asiam, was not at post when the team later visited her office in Sekondi for clarification of her letter that assigned reasons for the magistrate’s relocation from her official bungalow.
Interestingly, none of the staff was prepared to volunteer information about her whereabouts. The report, signed by Isaac K. Mwinbelle, the regional head, reiterated that some Teleku Bokazo youth had been engaged in April 2021 to dredge River Broma.
The Commission also lauded the Kwasi Bonzoh led administration for the constant arrest and prosecution of illegal miners in Ellembele, as evidenced in letters to the courts and minutes taken at the various DISEC meetings.
The Commission urged the Assembly to continue enforcing its by-laws on illegal mining, and severely punish culprits in accordance with section 99 (2) of Act 900, 2015.
“There should be intensified collaboration between the judiciary, the assembly and the police to clamp down the menace within the district. It will be prudent on the part of Lands and Natural Resources ministry to include the area in the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small-Scale Mining Project (GLRSSMP) to help reclaim the area and desilt river Broma,” the Minerals Commission further recommended.
About The Author
