The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Ellembelle, Kwasi Bonzoh has chronicled events surrounding the missing excavators for which he was indicted, to prove his innocence.
The DCE who has suffered a great deal as far as the issue of the missing excavators is concerned, said events from August 30, and 31, 2022 amid conversations with all stakeholders including the CEO of Petroleum Commission, District NIB (formally BNI) Officer, Headmaster of Nkroful Agric Senior High School, District Immigration Officer and the Divisional Police Commander are ample evidence of his innocence.
According to him, “the missing of the 2 excavators were due to the reluctance of the police to protect the excavators to Thursday 01/09/2022 which enabled the illegal miners to move away the excavators to an unknown location.”
He stated this in a statement he issued, chronicling the events surrounding the excavators.
Below if his full statement:
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
TUESDAY 30TH AUGUST, 2022
I had a schedule meeting with the CEO of Petroleum Commission and Management of ENI at the Petroleum Commission Head office in Accra at 11:00 a,m.
10:17 a.m.
On my way to the meeting at exactly 10:17 a.m. I received a call from the MP for Ellembelle, Hon, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah informing me that he had received a phone call from the Headmaster of Nkroful Agric Senior High School regarding an illegal mining activity, currently ongoing on the school land. I told him that was news to me since the Headmaster had not given me any such information, although I last spoke to him on phone on Friday 26th August, 2022 at exactly 14:46 p.m. I them assured the MP that we will deal with the issue decisively.
10:21 a.m.
At exactly 10:21a.m. I received a call from the Headmaster of Nkroful Agric SHS, Mr. Joseph Kwaw Blay himself informing me about the activity. I then told the headmaster to immediately report to the police and the District Assembly through the District Director of Education immediately.
10:41 a.m.
At 10:41 a.m. I called the Headmaster again to discuss the issue and added the District Director of Education on conference call. We spoke for about 25 minutes discussing the issue and the necessary steps to be taken to deal with the matter.
12:40 p.m.
At 12:40 p.m. I received a call from the District NIB (formally BNI) Officer, Mr. Francis Ayensu drawing my attention to the face book post by the Member of Parliament regarding the Nkroful galamsey issue. I informed him of my earlier conversation with the MP, the Headmaster and the District Director of Education on the same issue. I then suggested to him to contact the Headmaster himself and then follow up to gather more intelligence on the matter.
12:47 p.m.
The District NIB officer shares the screenshot of the MP’s Facebook post on the DISEC WhatsApp platform for the attention of all DISEC members and for necessary action.
1:01p.m.
The Divisional Crime Officer, Superintendent Prosper Gbagbo called the District NIB officer to confirm the authenticity of the information he posted on our DISEC WhatsApp platform. The NIB officer duly confirmed it and share the phone number of the NASS Headmaster for the police to contact him themselves.
The NIB then called to tell me that he has duly confirmed the issue to the police for necessary action.
2:30 p.m.
While waiting for the Police to take action I informed the District Assembly’s representative on the District Small Scale Mining Committee established by Article 92 of Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703. The Committee was sworn in by the Hon. George Mireku Dukar, the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources on Thursday 17th February, 2022 to primarily fight illegal mining and also create an enabling environment for the growth and expansion of Ghanaian owned Small Scale Mining Companies in the District.
I instructed Mr. Francis Apeni to follow up with the Headmaster who had then officially written to the Assembly through the District Director of Education to officially inform us about the alleged illegal mining activities.
3:20 p.m.
I called the NIB Officer to for update on the issue and he informed me that per his intelligence some Chinese National are involved in the illegal mining activity.
3:21 p.m.
I immediately called the District Immigration Officer, Mr. Michael Shika Love and merged it on a Conference between the District NIB officer, the District Immigration Officer and myself to discuss the issue and the need to take immediately action to bring the perpetrators to book. Our conference call discussion lasted for about 7 minutes.
3:46 p,m.
I called the District NIB officer to inform him that while the Police were waiting for an official complaint before taking any action, Hhe should immediately visit the alledged illegal mining site together with the District Immigration Commander to gather information about the operations of the illegal miners.
4:30 p.m.
Around 4:30 p.m. when the NIB Officer and the Immigration Officer arrived at the site, they met Mr. Francis Apeni, the District Assembly’s representative on the District Scall Scale Mining Committee who gave instructions that the 2 excavators they saw busily destroying the land with their operation be moved out from the site to Teleku Bokazo, a nearby community
POLICE IN ACTION
As at the time that Mr. Apeni and the District Immigration Officer as well as the BNI Officer were leaving the illegal mining site around 6:00 p.m, the Police had not taken any action because according to them, they had not received any official complaints.
WEDNESDAY 31ST AUGUST, 2022
7:01 a.m.
I called the Divisional Police Commander, ACP Hlordzi Godact Dodzi to discuss with him the issue of the alleged illegal mining activities on NASS school land and the need to work hard to clampdown the menace of illegal mining which was re-emerging in our District. I also spoke about the unnecessary politicization of the issue which was frustrating the fight against illegal mining in the District. We spoke for about 9 minutes until I run out of credit.
7:19 a.m.
I called Mr. Francis Apeni to follow up from where he left off the previous day.
7:21 a.m.
I once again called ACP Hlordzi at 7:21 were we spoke for another 18 minutes 58 seconds during which we had extensive conversation on the need to go the extra mile in our various duties to clampdown on the galamsey menace notwithstanding the attempt by some people to play politics with the issue.
7:58 a.m.
At 7:58 I called the Member of Parliament for Ellembelle Constituency, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah to discuss what he informed me the previous day, the latest illegal mining activities at Nkroful. At the end of our 25 minutes conversation, we both pledged to work together to fight the menace in our various capacities as DCE and MP devoid of partisan politics.
10:10 a.m.
Mr. Francis Apeni called me to inform me that upon his arrival at Teleku Bokazo around 9:30 a.m. he had spotted the 2 excavators parked near an uncompleted CAC church building and that he had taken pictures. I then instructed him to immediately organize a lowbed to move the excavators away from Teleku Bokazo
12:36 p.m.
I called the western Regional Minister, Hon. Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah to brief him about the issue of the illegal mining activity on NASS school land and the excavators which had been impounded. The Hon. Regional Minister then instructed that the excavators be moved from its current location to Sekondi for necessary action to be taken.
I called Mr. Francis Apeni who told me that they are finding it difficult to secure a lowbed transport the excavators to Sekondi. I then instructed him to go to the Esiama Divisional Police Commander to inform him about the development and request for Police protection from his office to guard the excavators until a lowbed was secured for the purpose of transporting the 2 excavators to Sekondi as instructed by the Regional Minister.
1:05 p.m.
So, on Wednesday, around 1:05 p.m., Francis Apeni asked NIB to drop him at Esiama Divisional Police Headquarters when the NIB officer met him at the place where the excavators were parked because I had asked him to go to the Police Station to asked ACP, Godact Dodzi Hlordzi to give him Policemen to guard the excavators whiles efforts were made to get a low bed to transport the excavators from where they were parked to Sekondi.
Francis Apeni and the NIB officer at the police station however, met ACP Godact Dodzi Hlordzi, Divisional Police Commander with Superintendent Stephen Appiah, District Police commander at the grand flour of the police station where Francis Apeni told them that the I sent him to informed them about some excavators which have been moved from an illegal mining site at Nkroful to Teleku Bokazo so a police guard was needed whiles an arrangement was being made to carry the excavators to Sekondi.
According to Mr. Francis Apeni the Divisional Commander’s, comment was that he sent his Crime Officer and the District Officers to the alleged illegal mining site on Wednesday 31/08/2022 around 9:00a.m. But they see nothing ongoing so where were the excavators parked brought from. He added that no official complaint have been made to them about the operations of the illegal miners because police act on complaints.
Francis Apeni emphasize that the excavators were brought from the illegal mining site at Nkroful which is near the Nkroful Agricultural Senior High School. ACP Godact Dodzi HLORDZI, however said they are under staff and that since the excavators have remain parked from Tuesday 30/08/2022 around 5:00 p.m. it means nobody is going to move them and hence there is no need for police guard so the best thing to do is to get a someone to monitor.
The District Police Officer, Superintendent Stephen Appiah was of the view that it was possible for the illegal miners to move the excavators from where it was parked, hence the need to provide the security. After series of conversation between Hon. Francis Apeni and ACP Godact Dodzi Hlordzi, the later agreed to detailed two armed policemen to be around the vicinity where the excavators were parked but nevertheless asked them to withdraw at 6:00 p.m.
Mr. Francis Apeni however drove the two-armed Constable Eric Koranteng and Constable Abdul Razak Mohammed to where the excavators were parked.
The reluctance of the police to guard the excavators to Thursday morning made the illegal miners at the dawn of Thursday 01/09/2022 moving away the excavators to an unknown location.
After my arrival from Accra, I went to Esiama Police Divisional Headquarters, on Thursday 01/09/2022 at Police Station, I asked ACP Hlordzi why the excavators have been moved from their parking place to an unknown location. ACP Hlordzi informed me that the command is under staff and that there were no way police could guard the excavators to the morning of Thursday 01/09/2022. ACP Hlordzi again stated that the excavators were not parked at the police custody and that he cannot tell how it was move to an unknown location. ACP Hlordi however called Constable Abdul Razak Mohammed to his office and asked him when they left where the excavators were parked. Constable Abdul Razak Mohammed, responding stated that they left there around 6:20 p.m. of 01/09/2022 because that was the instruction they were given.
Myself as the District Chief Executive, Ellembelle on Thursday 01/09/2022 evening went to the illegal mining site with some District Security Council Members including Division Officer III Mark Hamilton, Commander, Ghana National Fire Service, Nkroful, Deputy Superintendent Enea Adams, Immigration officer in charge Nkroful and Press men numbering about twenty (20) to set some mining equipment ablaze. At the site I granted interview with the Pressmen where i indicated that our decision to set the equipment ablaze was on the basis that the excavators that were moved from the illegal mining site were nowhere to be found and it is the failure of the policemen to guard the excavators to Thursday 01/09/2022 which paved way for the illegal miners to move the excavators to an unknown location. I again in my interview stated that the police is not showing commitment towards the fight against illegal mining in the area because ACP Hlordzi has usually indicated that the division is under staff.
As chairman of DISEC, I can state that missing of the excavators is due to the reluctance of the police to protect the excavators to Thursday 01/09/2022 which enabled the illegal miners to move away the excavators to an unknown location.
It has been observed that ACP Godact Dodzi Hlordzi, does not have the commitment in fighting illegal mining in the area because his usual comments whenever operations concerning illegal mining is raised is that the divisional police command is under staff. His attitude towards the fight against illegal mining is not encouraging which has resulted to the fight against the menace in the area very difficult.
Mr. Francis Apeni said Abdul Razak Mohammed told him that WOBEDAM who is a known illegal miner was spotted around the excavators and that on Thursday when he went to the Police Station to lodge complaint about the missing excavators were missing the Constable Abdul Razak Mohammed told him that WOBEDAM and some people office having a discussion on the matter.
As chairman of DISEC, I can state that missing of the 2 excavators were due to the reluctance of the police to protect the excavators to Thursday 01/09/2022 which enabled the illegal miners to move away the excavators to an unknown location.
