Some officials from the Kyebi Division of the Forestry Commission have allegedly set ablaze four excavators believed to be engaging in illegal mining within the buffer of the Atewa Forest at Obuoho Fante close to Anum Apapamu in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region, on Thursday, February 13, 2025.
According to sources, the officials who visited the area Thursday morning around 9 am on their routine monitoring engaged the assemblyman for the area, who disputed that the concession owner was mining within the buffer.
The officials who then spoke to someone on the phone later moved to burn the four excavators and sped off to avoid attack from the community members who were massing up.
The Assembly Member for Anum Apapamu North Adu- Gyamfi Douglas spoke to Channel One News, stating,
The Eastern Regional Minister Rita Akosua Awatey who rushed to the community to calm nerves has sanctioned immediate investigations into the incident.
According to the Minister, the Regional Security Council which recently met to strategize on how to clamp down on activities of illegal miners did not sanction the burning of excavators.
Things we discussed about mining, but not this very one and also the regional minister has no idea who burnt those machines.
And are calling for an investigation into this issue to know who really is behind it and what rule the people mining here have broken.
