General News
Ellembelle DCE being investigated by police over missing excavators
The Western Regional Police Command is looking into the District Chief Executive of Ellembelle, Kwasi Bonzoh, his personal assistant, and another individual in connection with the missing excavators used by illicit miners in Nkroful.
The Police Service refuted earlier reports in which the DCE is said to have alleged that the two excavators used by illegal small-scale miners at Nkroful and in the care of the Ellembelle Police had vanished in a statement issued by the Police Service and signed by the Head of Public Affairs at the Command, Superintendent Olivia Tawiah Adiku.
“We wish to categorically state that no excavators were handed over to the police by the District Chief Executive of Ellembelle, Mr. Kwasi Bonzoh or any other person from the assembly. We, therefore, urge the public to disregard the publication and treat it with the contempt it deserves”, it stated.
“The DCE, his personal assistant and one other are being investigated in connection with the alleged missing excavators. We wish to assure the public that anybody implicated in the course of the investigation will be taken through the due process of the law”, it noted.
Meanwhile, when Citi News approached DCE Kwasi Bonzoh for comment, he urged the police to proceed with any probe because he never made those charges.
“I’m ready for any investigation, but then the police have shown that they cannot do an impartial investigation because when they came, they ignored all information to the contrary. They were only here so that they could write this statement.”
“I’ve not said that the equipment were in the custody of the police. All I have said consistently from all the videos and audio interviews is that the machines were packed at Teleku-Bokazo and there is no police station at Teleku-Bokazo. If it was in their custody, would we have requested policemen to go and keep watch over it? It wasn’t in their custody, but it was packed at a location near Teleku-Bokazo when it was moved from a galamsey site in Nkroful therefore we needed police protection. That is why the Police gave two police officers to keep watch over the equipment from 2pm-6 pm… The police were there for 4 hours, and they didn’t see any excavators, yet they didn’t report the complaint that we came and never saw any excavator, only for them to show up yesterday that they didn’t see any excavator and that the excavators were not in their custody”, he responded.
On August 31, 2022, the DCE, who also serves as the Chairman of the Ellembelle District Security Council, received a distress call from the Headmaster of Nkroful Agriculture Secondary School regarding unlawful mining operations on areas of the school’s concession.
The DCE stated that he called the Divisional Police Commander, ACP Dodzi Hlordzi, and informed him that the excavators had been moved to Teleku Bokazu and that they needed men to protect them while they looked for a vehicle to transport them to a safer location, which resulted in the release of two people to go and protect the excavators.
A terrible accident occurred at the base of Galenkui Mountain in Ho, claiming the lives of nine people, including babies.
The terrifying occurrence occurred as a 207 Benz was transporting goods and passengers from Abotoase to Sogakofe.
The car encountered brake failure while descending the mountain, culminating in a collision with a Zoomlion garbage truck.
Initial reports verified seven fatalities at the disaster scene, including newborns and children.
Following that, Mary Dzifa, a nurse at Ho Municipal Hospital, informed Citi News that roughly ten children had died in the disaster.
“I was at our facility yesterday, November 22, when a car rushed in with dead and injured children and injured adults, especially men. Some were attended to at the facility, and the rest who were severely injured were taken to the Ho Teaching Hospital. The dead children will be about 10.”
Officials at the Ho Teaching Hospital said that 32 people were admitted for injuries incurred, with 9 dying as a result of their injuries.
Amos Jah, the Public Relations Officer of Ho Teaching Hospital, said that the injured patients are receiving medical attention and making progress in their rehabilitation.
“I received a call from a friend yesterday who was going back to town and that he saw the accident, so I quickly informed the nurses to be on alert. Some were brought in with pickups, ambulance, tricycles; the situation was very bad, some had broken limbs, some heads almost being severed, some were bleeding from all parts of the body. After two hours, we were able to calm the situation down.”
“We had a total of 30 accident victims brought here. Two others were brought from the Municipal Hospital this morning, making it 32 in all. My information is that we lost 9 of them, 4 are kids and 5 are adults. For the kids, three were brought in dead. Those injured are responding to treatment.”
Dr Adam Bonaa, a security expert, has requested the Oti Regional Minister to restrict all public events in Nkwanta in response to the riots that have taken eight lives.
The fights, in his opinion, were avoidable.
“The Regional Minister and his men must make certain that this never happens again.” This was avoidable, yet 8 people died as a result,” he remarked on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Tuesday, November 21.
He further suggested that “It is important to suspend all public activities that are likely to take place by the two factions, this is the surest way of letting them know that there is an authority within Nkwanta and the region.”
The Oti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) will host an emergency security meeting today, Wednesday, November 22, in response to the Nkwanta riots.
Regional Minister Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, appearing on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Tuesday, November 21, verified the number of dead and described the pandemonium as “ethnic clashes.”
“Tomorrow we are going to have an emergency security meeting again, ” he further said.
He also disclosed that there had been conflicts in town two weeks earlier between members of two tribes, Adele and Akyode.
Following the conflicts, the Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, acted on the advice of the REGSEC and via Executive Instrument to impose a curfew on Nkwanta township.
The curfew will be in force from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21.
On Tuesday, November 21, an attacker opened fire in the town’s central market area.
Several people have been murdered and others have been injured as a result of the incident.
The Oti Regional Security Council dispatched officers to the region to handle the situation.
“Government wishes to appeal to all to exercise restraint and to use the established mechanisms for the resolution of all their conflicts and disputes.
“Meanwhile, the Government will like to reiterate that, there is a ban on all persons in Nkwanta Township and its environs from carrying arms, ammunition or any offensive weapons and any persons found with any arms or ammunition will be arrested and prosecuted,” the Minister said.
Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has categorically rejected selling his official house to a private developer.
He then stated that his home was “almost sold” to a private developer.
The Speaker of Parliament recently revealed that his Accra home was sold to a private developer while he was still living there.
He said this only came to light when the developer went to the Lands Commission to register the land on Monday at the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum in Accra.
However, the Lands Commission claimed in a statement that “at no time did the Lands Commission sell the said property to a private developer.”
In a recent meeting with civil society organisations, the Speaker emphasised that his official house was on the verge of being turned over to a developer except for the intervention of the Lands Commission.
“I didn’t say my residence was sold. That was not what I said. This was just a comment in passing when I said it was almost sold but luckily, I was in possession. And I said it was when they went to Lands Commission that they realised from the search that it was the residence of the Speaker,” Alban Bagbin clarified.
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