The Abeka District Court in the Okaikwei North Municipality has sentenced two persons to six months imprisonment for dumping refuse at unauthorised places
They are Kwasi Kodua and Kofi Kai.
It is the case of the prosecution led by Delight Dzansi that the convicts on September 9th, 2021 dumped refuse at the Achimota overhead and along the George Walker Bush Highway (N1 highway) thereby creating nuisance.
According to the Municipal Prosecutor, the action by the two persons breached Section 56 (a) (b) of Act 851 of the Public Health Act, 2012.
Appearing in the court presided over by trial magistrate Nana Adwoa Serwaa Dua-Adonteng, the accused persons denied the charges and were remanded into police custody.
However, making their second appearance in court on September 16, 2021, the accused persons changed their not guilty plea to guilty and were convicted accordingly.
The magistrate slapped each of them with a fine of GH ₵1,200 each or in default serve a six month jail term to serve as a deterrent to others.
The convicts were however, unable to pay their fined and were on Wednesday whisked to the Nsawam Prisons to begin their term.
The facts of the case are that convicts are both residents of Accra.
For some time now, the Assembly noticed that some unscrupulous individuals have been dumping refuse at unauthorised places especially along the N1 highway and the Achimota overhead.
The prosecution held that to curb the menace, the Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly (ONMA) formed a Sanitation Task Force led by the Municipal Chief Executive, Boye Laryea to lay ambush at the aforementioned areas leading to the arrest of the convicts between 1AM and 5AM.
Ms Dzansi told the court that the two were in the process caught dumping refuse at Achimota and Abofu overheads and were accordingly charged with the offence.
Source: Kofi Yirenkyi
