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| Licensed small scale miners brutalised by unknown soldiers |
A
combined team of some unknown soldiers and policemen numbering 400 have raided
a mining community at Wiawso and Gwira Tumentu in the Western Region and
committed some despicable atrocities.
The
brutalities took place on Thursday 17th December 2015 when Nana Amponsah,
owner and manager of Okobeng Mining Company Limited and who claims to have the
full backing of the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, attempted to drive
out the small scale miners from a prospecting licensed concession belonging to
West Star Mining Company Limited.
West
Star Mining Company Limited had entered into an agreement with the miners and
granted them a small scale gold concession under some terms and conditions.
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| Miners demand justice and protection from the state |
Whilst
many of the licensed small scale miners was beaten, large quantities of gold
and money was extorted and fuel reserves running into millions of Ghana cedis
were impounded and taken away.
According
to statistics provided by the Prestea/Huni-Valley Branch of the Ghana National
Association of Small Scale Miners, “the operations of the licensed small scale
miners on the concession have reduced the unemployment rate in Prestea and its
environs drastically”.
Two
of the affected miners, Mustapha Nuhu and Isaac Thompson, are licensed with the
Ghana Minerals Commission and have consistently filed their Small Scale Mining
License Monthly Returns Form to the commission.
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| A Changfa generator of a miner burnt by the soldiers |
The
form legitimizes the operations of the small scale miner by providing information
to the Minerals Commission about the quantity of gold produced in a month, the type
of equipment used in operation, the reclamation method adopted by the miner and
the number of labourers employed.
In
what appears to confirm the criminality of this raid the Municipal Chief
Executive of the Nzema East Municipal Assembly, the District Chief Executive of
the Nzema East Municipal Assembly, the District Chief Executive of the Prestea
Huni Valley District and the Western Regional Police Commander say they are
unaware and did not authorize the raid.
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| Ghana's gold belongs to us says these protesting miners |
In
a petition to the Chief of Staff at the Presidency, the National Security Coordinator
and the Inspector General of Police, the traumatized miners are calling for a
thorough investigation into what they describe as a “cruel act”.
The
licensed small scale miners say they are operating legally with the full
permission of the Ghana Minerals Commission and are therefore calling on the
authorities of the state to ensure that the perpetrators of this dastardly act
are made to compensate them.
Meanwhile,
a copy of a report on reconnaissance conducted by the 2nd Infantry
Battalion of the Ghana Armed signed by Lieutenant Colonel J.K Kumado in the
possession of this reporter has identified a“Nana Amponsah as one of three
individuals spear heading illegal mining activities in the area”.
The
report recommends that “a team of Military and Policemen be authorized to
conduct cordon and search operations to arrest the indicted persons and clear
all illegal mining activities” from the area.
Editorial
Onsy and Legacy
Onsy Kwame Nkrumah, the self –proclaimed son of Ghana’s
first president is having a hard time establishing his bona fides.
Not many people have bought into his strange story of a
presidential secret birth and his reluctance to submit to DNA testing is not helping.
His attempt to become the presidential candidate of the
Convention Peoples Party (CPP) only compounds the problem.
The question is, why is he coupling his claim to be the son
of Nkrumah with his ambition to become President?
Who told Onsy that the Presidency of Ghana is reserved for
those who claim to be children of Nkrumah?
Nkrumah’s ideas belong to a political and ideological
category and not a biological category.
The Onsys, Samias and
Co will have to realize that Nkrumah may be their biological father, but politically,
he has many many sons and daughters all over the world.
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