Akyem Oda Divisional Police Command has detained three individuals linked to a troubling incident at Akim Oda Palace in Birim Central Municipal, Eastern Region.
In a community gathering, these individuals allegedly threw stones, injuring two officers and damaging a resident’s car.
The Divisional Police Commander, Rev Dr. Adane-Ameyaw, voiced concern over such misconduct, issuing a strong caution to local youth.
He stressed zero tolerance for violence or property damage during palace meetings, warning of arrests and full prosecution.
As investigations proceed, authorities expect these arrests to discourage similar actions.
1,670 final year students from 41 public and private junior high schools (JHS) in the Birim Central Municipality have had their BECE mock exams sponsored by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akyem Oda, Alexander Akwasi Acquah.
The super mock examination is designed to prepare candidates to excel in the BECE and achieve admission to senior high schools of their choosing.
Last Monday, the MP traveled to some of the beneficiary schools with his education committee chairman, Aaron Donkor, and the Birim Central Municipal Director of Education, Esther Quaye-Sowah, to observe children taking the mock examination. Advice
In his address to the students, Mr Acquah advised them to pay special attention to the super mock examination because it was aligned with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) BECE.
He encouraged them to study hard in order to graduate with honors and win admission to the well-known SHS.
The MP, on the other hand, warned students to avoid examination malpractices such as entering the examination hall with foreign materials or copying from their classmates, as they will be sanctioned if found by invigilators.
Mr Acquah promised scholarships to select of the students who excelled in the BECE and asked parents not to overburden their children in school with household tasks, as this could impede their academic growth.
He also instructed them to monitor their wards’ activities at home and to ensure that they focused on their academics when they returned from school.
As in previous years, the MP offered to provide free mathematical sets to each of the 1,670 students taking the BECE.
Eastern Region is one of the mining regions in Ghana Chinese sneaking to engage in illegal mining.
Dozens of these Chinese illegal miners have been arrested in the last five years but only three have been imprisoned.
As part of the fight against the menace, Chief Justice designated the Koforidua High Court 3 and Circuit Court B, to deal with illegal mining cases in the region.
Recent statistics by the Eastern Regional Office of the Attorney General Department headed by Chief State Attorney Mrs. Emily Addo-Okyireh detailed that, a total of 187 illegal miners charged in 48 cases have been convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in the Region since 2017.
The 187 convicted persons include 29 nationals of Niger, seven Nigerians and three Chinese.
A majority of the accused persons were tried and sentenced under the old section 99 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703). Section 99(1) of Act 703 prescribed a penalty of a minimum fine of three thousand penalty units or imprisonment for a term of not more than five years for the offence of buying or selling minerals without a licence.
For the offence of undertaking a small-scale mining operation without a licence or acting in contravention of a provision of Act 703 in respect of which an offence is created, section 99(2) of Act 703 stipulated a penalty of a minimum fine of one thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not more than three years.
In spite of the provision not being punitive enough, the Office of the Attorney-General says it succeeded in ensuring the application of maximum or near maximum custodial sentences allowed under imposed on the accused persons in 40 of the cases with the court exercising the discretion to impose a fine the rest of the cases.
