A 54-year-old suspect, John Mensah, has been remanded in police custody by the Nyankumasi Ahenkro District Court for his alleged involvement in the murder of Senior Forest Guard Richard Otwey at the Kakum National Park.
Mensah faces charges of unlawful entry into a protected forest and murder. His plea was withheld when he appeared before His Worship Peter Anongdare Esq. The court granted the prosecution’s request to detain the accused for two weeks to enable further investigations, adjourning the case to 11 September 2026.
According to an official Forestry Commission release, the fatal encounter occurred during an anti-poaching operation. On Friday, 21 August 2026, a patrol team discovered a poachers’ trail around 6:00 pm after hearing gunfire, laying an ambush overnight.
At approximately 5:15 am the following morning, officers spotted two individuals approaching with torchlights and commanded them to surrender. The suspects fled, prompting a chase. One fleeing poacher dropped a sack, turned, and fatally shot Mr Otwey, who was pursuing him.
While the gunman escaped, officers apprehended Mensah, a resident of Assin Betwease in the Assin South District. During interrogation, Mensah named the fleeing shooter as Bukari Abudu, also from Assin Betwease. A manhunt involving the Ghana Police Service and the Forestry Commission is currently underway to capture Abudu.
A search of the crime scene yielded two single-barrel shotguns, cutlasses, cooking utensils, and a stash of poached game. The confiscated carcasses comprised five brush-tailed porcupines, two African giant rats, a Maxwell’s duiker, two Mona monkeys, an olive colobus monkey, and a snail.
Officers from the Nyankumasi Police Station, alongside park officials, subsequently retrieved Mr Otwey’s body from the forest reserve. His remains have been deposited at the Abura Dunkwa Government Hospital mortuary for autopsy.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
