Lady behind Kintampo Waterfalls viral video arrested by police

Correspondence from Bono Region:

The police in the Kintampo North Municipality of the Bono East Region have arrested the lady behind the Kintampo Waterfalls viral video.

The arrest of Farida Antwi, a level 300 student of the Kintampo College of Health follows the publication of a video on social media which the content turned out to be false.

The suspect per information available to GhanaWeb was handed over to the police by Kintampo College of Health authorities after she was declared wanted when the management of the Kintampo Waterfalls lodged a formal complaint over the publication.

A police source told GhanaWeb that the suspect was detained for some time after her statement was taken but she was subsequently granted bail.

She is expected to be arraigned before the court next week.

Background:

Farida Antwi posted a video of the Kintampo Waterfalls after she visited the facility on Thursday, October 5, 2023.

The content of the video sought to portray that the change in colour of the waterfalls was due to the activities of illegal miners leading to a huge public outcry.

However, the video was discredited by the management of Kintampo Waterfalls attributing the change in colour to heavy rains in the area which has resulted in a significant increase in water inflow.

According to the Site Manager of the Kintampo Waterfalls, Michael Afake, the colour change is common because such inflow carries a substantial amount of sediment and debris from upstream changing the colour of the waterfalls and not as a result of illegal mining as being purported.

“Over the past weeks, the region experienced unusually heavy, significantly increasing water inflow. This overflow carries a substantial amount of sediment and debris from upstream, leading to a temporary change in water colour and not as a result of illegal mining”.