Thirteen illegal miners have been jailed three years each totalling 39 years and been slapped with a total fine of Gh¢312,000 (Ghc24,000 each).

The Koforidua Circuit Court presided over by Her Honour Mercy Adei – Kotei on Tuesday sentenced the 13 after they pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit crime and mining without license.

The convicts are William Agyapong alias (3,3,4), Prince Awuni alias Flower, Bernard Darkwah also known as Totti, Kwaku Adu, Kwame Kodom, Kofi Nketia alias Nkatie and Isaac Amo also known as Kawku Abei. The rest are Kwabena Yaw Boye, Samuel Ayisi alias Star Boy, Samuel Ayisi a.k.a Tugah One, Jonas Ametor, Anthony Lolome and James Narh.

Presenting the facts of the case, Assistant State Attorney, Cyril Boateng Keteku, said the convicts were arrested by a Taskforce of the Forestry Services Commission of Ghana at Akwatia in the Denkyembuor district of the Eastern region.

He said the Taskforce apprehended the 13 on January 8, 2018 in the Atiwa Forest mining without license hence the need to arraign them before court.

The Begoro District Manager of the Forestry Services, Kwame Oteng Awuah, has commended the court for the swift judgment. He has also appealed for more forest guards to be posted to the district to help fight the growing human activities threatening the forest reserve.