Mpohor, Western Region — A Senior Health Promotion Officer with the Mpohor Health Directorate has been shot dead in a suspected armed robbery ambush on the Apowa-Mpohor road.
The victim, identified as Bernard Prempew (also reported as Benjamin Peprah), was killed last Thursday while driving through the area. He was not the intended target. According to reports, the assailants had received a tip-off about a gold dealer transporting money from Tarkwa and laid an ambush near the Awonakrom School junction.
An okada rider, Kwame Anumde, was also shot and killed instantly in the same incident. Both victims died on the spot, and the armed robbers fled the scene.
Prempew had served the Mpohor District faithfully for over five years. Colleagues described him as a committed, humble, and hardworking officer who left his own community to serve in Mpohor under the Ghana Health Service’s staff distribution policy.
Health workers in the district are now living in fear. One colleague said:
“We left our various communities to serve in a different community where we were posted. We respected the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service fair distribution of staff — that is why Bernard continued to serve until last week Thursday. We are afraid to continue working in such an unsafe environment. I use that road too. Today it’s Bernard, who knows when? I am forced to leave the District.”
In a passionate appeal, colleagues are calling on President John Dramani Mahama, the Ghana Police Service, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ghana Health Service to act swiftly:
“Please assist us to get the perpetrators of this evil.”
They have also urged immediate and strict enforcement of gun control, especially in galamsey-prone areas where illegal small-scale mining has fueled insecurity and the proliferation of arms.
The Ghana Police Service has launched an investigation into the incident, but no arrests have been made so far.
This tragic event has heightened concerns about the safety of frontline health workers posted to rural and mining-affected districts in the Western Region.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Bernard Prempew, his colleagues at the Mpohor Health Directorate, and the entire district.
May his soul rest in perfect peace. 🙏
(Updates will be provided as investigations progress.)