Speaking at the commissioning, Mr. Suhuyini said the bridge represents the restoration of safety, the renewal of hope, and the fulfilment of a government promise to the community.

The new bridge replaces a weakened structure that had become a major risk to commuters, particularly farmers transporting produce from Kotokuom and nearby communities to urban centres. Years of wear from heavy-duty trucks had left the old bridge severely damaged, with cracked beams, broken supports, and unsafe pillars.

The Roads and Highways Minister, Governs Kwame Agbodza, ordered the old bridge closed on March 3 after engineers declared it unsafe.

“We are gathered here not just to commission a piece of infrastructure. We are here to celebrate the restoration of safety, the renewal of hope, and the fulfilment of a promise made to this community,” Mr. Suhuyini said. He recalled how the bridge had become a symbol of danger and a “death trap that threatened livelihoods,” noting that social media posts showing its deteriorating state had intensified calls for urgent intervention.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, joined Mr. Suhuyini to formally hand over the project to the community, highlighting the government’s commitment to ensuring safe and reliable infrastructure that supports both economic activity and citizens’ well-being.

Source: MyJoyOnline

The four other suspects were picked up at Abompe, Abaasua, Amaada and Agogoso in the Atwima Mponua District.

They are Nana Yaw Owusu, Nana Appiah, Opanyin Kuffour and Opanyin Kwaku Duah. They are among seven elders that have been selected to serve as Dikro in the absence of a chief for Kokotuom

They have been handed over to the Nyinahini Police for the necessary legal action.

Operation

Also, 300 chanfans used in their activities were impounded and burnt down during the two-day operation carried out by a task force put together by the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners (GNASSM), in collaboration with the district assembly.

A large number of illegal mining operators, on seeing the task force, fled, leaving their mining equipment behind.

Meanwhile, Poku’s arrest is seen as significant, as residents allege he has been at the forefront of illegal mining activities in the area, with the backing of some traditional leaders in the area.

Tour

The task force last Monday led some selected media houses on a tour of the polluted Offin River and destroyed forest reserves as part of the campaign against illegal mining in the area.

The Vice-President of GNASSM, Sampson Kofi Wiredu, explained that the tour was to give the media an insight into what was happening and confirm that, indeed, some traditional leaders and people in leadership roles were deeply involved in illegal mining, which was threatening their jobs.

He said the association was keen to lend support to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to fight the social menace.

“People are very much involved in galamsey and it is affecting all of us. We will expose and report any traditional leader who will be found in connection with illegal activities in his community,” Mr Wiredu cautioned.

He commended residents for giving the hint which led to the arrest of the assembly member, saying that all needed to come on board to fight the menace.

DCE

The District Chief Executive for Atwima Mponua, Isaac Kofi Marfo, pledged to support the association to flush out all those engaged in illegal mining activities on the river and the forest reserves in the district.

The deceased was among six others who were in a mining pit when they had wind that members of the Task Force, led by the District Chief Executive(DCE) for the area, Isaac Kofi Marfo, were heading in their direction.

According to the police in the area, the Task Force, made up of about 20 men with some in Military Uniforms in four vehicles including the official Vehicle of the District Chief Executive, stormed Achiase -Atuntuma Mining enclave on an operation.

In the course of events, five of the men who were believed to be soldiers with K47 assault rifles aboard a Land Rover vehicle with the inscription Anti-illegal Mining Task Force fired gunshots indiscriminately and in the process, seven young men who were then mining illegally in an abandoned mining pit within the vicinity ran helter-skelter

Six of the men in the pit managed to swim out of the pit but victim Ronald Kortey aged 32 drowned.

The body of the deceased was later retrieved and has been deposited at Nyinahin Community Mortuary awaiting autopsy.