The convenor of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Dr. Ken Ashigbey, has called for sweeping arrests and immediate investigations following an attack on the Inspector General of Police’s (IGP) anti-galamsey taskforce in Bonteso, Ashanti Region.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Dr. Ashigbey commended the taskforce for standing their ground and pushing through the operation despite the hostility.
The taskforce came under attack on Wednesday after seizing an excavator from an illegal mining site near Manso Nkwanta.
The assailants, reportedly led by the local assembly member, pelted the team with stones in an attempt to prevent them from leaving the site.
The crowd, made up largely of community members, confronted the officers despite warning shots being fired to disperse them.
However, Dr. Ashigbey expressed outrage that such an intervention had to come from the IGP’s team, insisting that local authorities had failed in their duties.
“By now, the assemblyman should have been arrested, the District Chief Executive sacked, and the police commanders at the divisional, district, and regional levels interdicted.
“It is unacceptable that it took the IGP’s taskforce to carry out this operation when these local leaders should have acted long ago,” he stated.
Dr. Ashigbey maintained that traditional authorities complicit in illegal mining activities should also be arrested.
He urged law enforcement to trace the ownership of excavators and tipper trucks seized at illegal mining sites, using chassis numbers and import records to identify those responsible.
He recalled President John Mahama’s declaration of galamsey as a national emergency, urging him to go further.
“The President must declare a state of emergency in the area and immediately fish out all those involved,” he stressed.
He emphasised the gravity of the situation, lamenting the recent loss of lives, including government officials, in connection with illegal mining operations.
“We have reached a critical point, and this is no time for jokes. Look at the people we have lost: fathers, children, and husbands who were on their way to an event aimed at tackling galamsey. We are even still mourning, and this happens? This is abominable, and these people are not galamseyers but environmental criminals,” he said.
The attack on the taskforce has intensified calls for tougher measures against illegal mining, which continues to threaten Ghana’s environment, water bodies, and lives.
Source: Gertrude Otchere
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