Poaching Suspect Remanded Over Alleged Killing of Kakum Forest Guard
John Mensah has been remanded for 14 days as police continue investigations into the fatal shooting of forest guard Richard Otwey
- Suspect John Mensah remanded for 14 days
- Forest guard Richard Otwey was shot dead
- Police hunt for alleged shooter Bukari Abudu
A 54-year-old man accused of killing a forest guard at the Kakum National Park in the Central Region has been remanded into police custody.
The suspect, John Mensah, a resident of Assin Betwease in the Assin South District, was arraigned before the Nyankumasi Ahenkro District Court on charges of two counts of murder and unauthorised entry into a protected forest area.
His plea was not taken as the prosecution requested additional time to complete investigations. Presiding Judge Peter Anongdare subsequently remanded him into police custody for 14 days.
Mensah is expected to return to court on September 11, 2026.
The incident occurred around 6 p.m. on Friday, August 21, when forest guards conducting a routine patrol in the Kakum National Park reportedly detected signs of suspected poaching activity.
According to the Forestry Commission’s situational report, the guards took strategic positions after hearing gunshots from the direction of the suspected poachers.
The following morning, at about 5:15 a.m., two individuals were reportedly spotted moving through the forest. The guards ordered them to surrender, but the suspects allegedly fled in different directions.
One of them reportedly abandoned a sack before turning back and firing at Richard Otwey, a forest guard who was pursuing him. Otwey was hit by the gunfire and died at the scene.
Mensah was later arrested and allegedly told investigators that another suspect, Bukari Abudu, was the person who fired the fatal shot. Abudu remains at large, with police and Forestry Commission officials continuing efforts to locate him.
Investigators who searched the area reportedly recovered two single-barrel guns believed to have been carried by the suspects, along with remains of animals allegedly killed by poachers.
The recovered carcasses included five brush-tailed porcupines, two African giant rats, a Maxwell duiker, a snail, two Mona monkeys and an olive colobus monkey.
Other items found in the forest included two machetes, a cooking pot, sachets of tomato paste and a bottle of water, suggesting the suspects may have spent an extended period inside the protected area.
Otwey’s remains have since been deposited at the Abura Dunkwa Government Hospital mortuary as investigations continue.
