Ashanti Region: Small-scale miners accuse NDC-affiliated operatives of extortion at mining sites
The Association claims that some of these individuals, suspected to have ties to the ruling party, are targeting mining operations and demanding money from miners while pretending to enforce anti-galamsey regulations.
The Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners has raised concerns over individuals impersonating military and national security personnel to extort money from its members under the pretense of fighting illegal mining.
The Association claims that some of these individuals, suspected to have ties to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), are targeting mining operations and demanding money from miners while pretending to enforce anti-galamsey regulations.
According to the Association’s leadership, reports from members, particularly in the Amansie areas, indicate increasing frustration over these activities.
At a press conference in Kumasi on Tuesday (18 March), the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Association, Michael Adu Gyamfi, called on the President, the Ashanti Regional Minister, and other authorities to intervene immediately to prevent potential clashes between the miners and these individuals.
“All the presidents who had the chance to rule this country had a good motive behind the fight against illegal mining. But one way or the other, some party apparatus and some people within the party are the main cause of the failures associated with the fight against illegal mining,” he stated.
He further urged the President, the Ashanti Regional Minister, and the National Security Coordinator in the region to take urgent steps to curb the activities of these impersonators.
“We are using this medium to inform the president as well as the Ashanti Regional Minister and the National Security Coordinator in the Ashanti Region to be wide awake and make sure that they talk to their people who have put it upon themselves to engage in such a dastardly act.
“As per the information that we are receiving from the people in the zonal area, the next time such an incident happens, they will not allow themselves to be taken over, and there could be a possible clash that could create fatalities.”
He emphasized the need for swift action to prevent a potential security crisis in the mining sector.
“We are calling on the government and the Ashanti Regional Minister to make sure that those who are going around parading themselves as national security operatives are stopped for the interest of the people of Ghana as well as the mining industry.”
“We want to assure the government that the Ghana Association of Small-Scale Mining has vowed and has put itself in a position to support every meaningful activity by the government to ensure that every small-scale mining is done sustainably as well as protecting our environment,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Acting Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, Captain (Retired) John Kwame Jabari, acknowledged that security agencies have recently made arrests linked to these fraudulent activities.
“We are aware of the situation. Over our two weeks, we have had separate incidents where about four or five of them were people patrolling to be soldiers or from national security or the police going to mining sites.
“Most of the time when it happens like that, and we get wind of it, and we are not in that constituency, we follow up with the police in that constituency for assistance. Within the week, we have been able to apprehend them with the assistance of the police,” Citi News quoted him as saying.
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