The Aowin Traditional Council in the Western Region is calling on the government, the Forestry Commission and other relevant stakeholders to help halt the destruction of forest reserves in the Aowin Municipality.

This appeal follows fresh invasions of the Tano Anwia, Tano Nimri, and Yooyoo forest reserves by illegal miners.

Members of the Aowin Traditional Council have accused the Member of Parliament for the area, Oscar Ofori Larbi, of fueling illegal mining activities in the Tano Anwia forest reserve.

The said forests have recently come under siege by illegal miners, allegedly led by known National Democratic Congress (NDC) activists in the Aowin Municipality.

JoyNews’ Erastus Asare Donkor reports that the illegal activities have resulted in violent clashes, claiming two lives and leaving several others injured.

Three armed groups have taken over sections of the forest for illegal mining. However, two of the groups have since abandoned their operations, leaving one group still actively engaged in the activity.

The Aowin Traditional Council has accused the MP for Aowin, Oscar Ofori Larbi, of being involved in the illegal invasion of the Tano Anwia forest reserve.

At a press conference, the Chief of Nkwanta, Nana Ntow, urged the newly appointed Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, to intervene and protect the forests.

"We want to appeal to the government through the forestry commission with all the necessary institutions to come to our aid so that the forest can be protected for us," he said.

The council further stated that their repeated calls to Oscar Ofori Larbi to address the issue have gone unanswered, prompting them to urge the Regional Executives of the NDC to intervene.

Tufuhene of Enchi, Nana Payin II, expressed deep concern over the ongoing destruction.

"As we speak, Hon. Larbie has never honored our invitation to meet with Nananom. Nananom engaged diplomatically with the regional executives of the NDC to call Larbie to order, but he abused them."

He went ahead and collected 200,000 entry fee for groups to enter our forest. Consequently, Nananom have no choice but to write the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference on the 20th to help the government to stop Lavi, and his gang from these notorious activities."

The traditional council is calling for a collaborative effort involving the government, the Forestry Commission, security agencies, and the media to put an end to illegal mining activities in the Aowin Municipality.

On January 27, the MP accused, Oscar Ofori Larbi’s denied the allegations. He told Accra-based TV3 that “Every single allegation against me is completely false and baseless."

"This is a deliberate attempt to tarnish my reputation. The claim that I’ve brought northerners to engage in galamsey is particularly surprising, given that these individuals are actually party members who were introduced to the illegal mining task force by the traditional authorities themselves.”