Some irate youth in Obuasi engaging in illegal small mining known as galamsey on Wednesday vandalized offices of the governing National Democratic Congress(NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in protest of Anglogold Ashanti’s takeover of a gold concession in the area.
The miners were said to have also defaced paraphernalia of the Progressive People’s Party, NPP and NDC in the area.
The aggrieved miners are said to have taken the action during a demonstration exercise in a bid to resist their relocation and takeover of some mining concessions in the area by Anglogold Ashanti.
A local reporter told Citi News that the miners demonstrated in the area on Tuesday but were called to order by the Ashanti Regional Minister.
“A section of them were in cars following the regional minister chanting ‘no galamsey no vote’ and the Regional Minister had to talk to them and they went to their various homes. But today, we saw them back in town chanting the same ‘no galamsey no vote’.”
The reporter said the miners went through the Obuasi township “defacing all political party paraphernalia and posters.”
“They did it to the NDC, NPP, PPP among others. So they went to Tutuka, where the NDC Obuasi East office is and they destroyed the door, windows, plastic chairs and came down to Obuasi Central, where the office of the NPP is. They broke the glasses, doors, brought down the Nana Addo and Kwaku Kwarteng banner just in front of the party. They also did the same thing to the PPP’s Obuasi East candidate billboard. About four other billboards of his were his were brought down,” Agyenim added.
The reporter noted that the Police could not stop the illegal miners.
Leave AngloGold’s Obuasi site
The Minerals Commission had earlier warned the illegal miners still occupying the Obuasi concession, of AngloGold Ashanti, to evacuate the site or suffer ejection.
This comes on the back of the insistence of some of the informal miners not to relocate to the new site allocated by the Commission.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin