The Juaso Circuit Court in the Asante Akim South District in the Ashanti Region presided over by Mr Frederick Tetteh has fined some Fulani herdsmen GH¢5,400 (150 penalty units each) for entering the Dome forest reserve without permit.
The court also ordered the three to pay GH¢15,000 for causing damage to the vegetation, destroying parts of the forest and feeding on foliage for six weeks.
Detective Sergeant Princeton Peasah, the prosecutor, told the court that on May 24, 2017, information got to the office of the Juaso Forestry Commission that some herdsmen were hiding in the Dome forest reserve where they had taken their cattle for grazing.
He said the Juaso District Forestry Commissioner, Mrs Rebecca Opam Bening, and the Juaso District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Andrew Anyani, led the Rapid Response team and the forestry monitoring team to the forest reserve.
He said upon their arrival, they spotted five gangs of herdsmen who were controlling over 1,000 cattle at various locations in the forest reserve.
The prosecutor said the team was able to arrest Umar Sumanu and Adamu Gariba and kept them in police custody until they were sent to court on May 26, 2017.