Raphael, a prisoner at the Awutu Camp Prison believed to be in his twenties has been diagnosed with stroke while still serving his three years sentence for involving in illegal mining popularly known as galamsey in Ghana.
“I was in Accra and went to visit my grandmother at Kyebi in the Eastern region and that was how I was introduced to the galamsey business in 2007 by a friend and never came to Accra,” he said.
Narrating his painful ordeal to Crime Check TV GH during a visit to the prison camp, Raphael revealed he is only now a victim of two unfortunate events.
“We were working at a galamsey site at Kyebi when soldiers stormed the site to arrest some people amidst firing of gunshots so i went to hide in a nearby bush just for everything to be over but I got frightened due to the unceasing firing of shots.”
“I then stood up and raised my hand but unfortunately they saw me and took me but even when I explained I was not part of that group, they didn’t listen because they saw me with tools and told me those were galamsey tools and evident I was a galamseyer,” Raphael narrated.
According to Raphael, what seemed a dream became a reality to him when he found himself in court and was declared to serve a 3 year jail term out of which he has served a year.
“I was stranded after the sentence because of my kid with my grandmother at mankase so I was first taken to Koforidua prison then here Awutu,” he recounted.
However, recounting the unfortunate predicament which he describes as a nightmare, his only hope was to recover from the stroke which has rendered him to a “vegetable”.
“It all happened when I was going to take my bath but felt dizzy and fell only to wake up to see me wet but couldn’t raise my left hand upon admission in the hospital, the doctors told me some veins have been damaged in my brain due to pressure.”
“It was unbelievable because I have never felt there was something wrong with me,” he said
The only wish of Raphael who has been abandoned and left to his fate is to recover from the unfortunate sickness he finds himself in.
“I know I have been disobedient because my uncle who is the only one who visited me about 4 months ago warned me to go the village and even if I decide to, I should help my grandmother with her farm but I went into galamsey instead.
“So I am not surprised I have been abandoned even though my uncle told me he was going to tell my grandmother about my situation.
Raphael is however appealing to the general public, government and abled individuals to come to his rescue in whichever way possible.
“There was one guy helping me out with life in the prison but he has been discharged so I now rely on people who are willing to help me. As at now, my drugs which I got with the help of our officer William Anaman is finished with no hope of where the next one will be coming from,” he said.
Meanwhile, the team from Crime Check TV GH is appealing on government to discharge Raphael to enable him access adequate medical care.
