Illegal Logging! Two Accused Granted Ghc40,000 Bail Each

The Dormaa-Ahenkro Circuit Court in the Dormaa Central Municipality of Bono Region has granted a Ghc40,000 bail to two accused persons charged with illegal logging of trees.

Kwaku Daniel, 29, and Joseph Kumah, 23, were granted bail and were to provide two sureties to be justified. They will reappear in court on May 4 this year.

The accused persons have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and engaging in illegal logging in the Mpameso Forest near Dormaa-Ahenkro. Daniel pleaded not guilty to four counts, while Kumah also pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Timothy Ahiaduvor, told the court presided over by Mr Samuel Djanie Kotey that the complainant was a concession guard of Adras Timber Company Limited. The company owns a timber concession in part of the Mpameso Forest reserve.

He further said that at about 0600 hours on Sunday, March 26 this year, the complainant and his colleagues were on their routine patrols within the concession when they met the accused persons with a chainsaw machine.

The accused persons were then arrested while the chainsaw machine was seized and the matter reported to the Police.

Investigations by the police revealed that the accused persons were cutting a utile tree when the chainsaw machine developed a fault. They, therefore, slept in the forest waiting for their accomplice, one K. Fosu, to bring a new chainsaw carburetor from Diabaa in the Dormaa West District. This led to their arrest.

After Police investigations, the accused persons were charged with the offences of conspiracy to commit a crime, harvesting timber (utile tree also known as rosewood) valued at Ghc18,000 without authorization, subjecting forest produce to manufacturing process without authority, and using an unregistered chainsaw to convert timber into lumber without authority.

Illegal logging is a major issue in Ghana, with the country losing about 65,000 hectares of forests annually. The Ghanaian government has, therefore, put measures in place to curb the menace.

These measures include the enactment of the Forest and Wildlife Policy, which seeks to manage the country’s forests sustainably. Also, the government has put a ban on the export of rosewood, which is one of the most illegally harvested trees in the country.

The granting of bail to the accused persons shows that the law is taking its course. It also serves as a warning to other illegal loggers that the government is determined to curb the menace.

The public is, therefore, urged to support the government’s efforts in protecting the country’s forests.