Two fined for diesel theft and dishonest receiving at Tarkwa

A labourer and a businessman have been fined a total of GH¢1,560 by the Tarkwa District Court for their roles in the theft and unlawful possession of diesel belonging to the AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine.

Emmanuel Tawiah, a labourer, and Ibrahim Mohammed, a businessman, both residents of Mile 7 in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, pleaded guilty to charges of stealing and dishonestly receiving. Each was fined GH¢780 or will serve a three-month jail term in default.

Police Sergeant Enoch Assan-Donkoh, who prosecuted the case before Magistrate Charles Owusu Nsiah, said the case followed a series of diesel thefts reported at the Iduapriem Mine. In response, concerned youth in the Mile 7 area formed a watchdog committee to help curb the rising theft.

In the early hours of January 15, 2025, a committee member, Michael Boamah, spotted Tawiah and an accomplice, Arhin (currently at large), carrying jerry cans suspected to contain stolen diesel. Boamah trailed them to Mohammed’s residence and confronted the group, but the suspects failed to give a credible explanation.

Boamah then alerted other committee members, who, with the help of police officers from the Iduapriem Mine, arrested the suspects. The two men were taken into custody along with the jerry cans and handed over to police for further investigation.

Subsequent police investigations revealed that Tawiah and Arhin had siphoned diesel from machinery parked at the Amax Yard within the mine’s concession and sold it to Mohammed.

The court’s ruling brings some closure to the ongoing issue of fuel theft at the mine, with local authorities praising the vigilance of the community watchdog committee in assisting with the arrests.