The Coalition said current sanctions were not deterrent enough, stating that with stricter sanctions, the fight against illegal mining can be won.

The Coalition made this known during a two-day working visit to the Upper East Region.

Kofi Larweh, a member of the steering committee of the Coalition, said they were worried about the sentences meted out to galamseyers, saying, it does not significantly contribute to the fight against galamsey.

“There are many levels of dealing with the fight against galamsey ranging from institutional, community, traditional and government. When it comes to government, one of the areas which is of much concern to us now has to do with the kind of sentencing or punishment meted out by the courts to galamseyers.”

“For each punishment, you have various amounts that people pay, but when you look at what they have been slapped with, it’s the barest minimum, and so we are appealing to the Chief Justice, Gloria Akuffo that judges should be sensitized to increase or enforce maximum punishment when sentencing galamseyers,” he said.

Mr. Larweh noted that, empowering traditional rulers with oversight responsibility on illegal mining could also contribute significantly to fighting the menace.

According to the Minerals Commission in the Upper East Region, only twenty-one (21) out of about 220 applications for small-scale mining have been licensed for operations.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The galamsey operators, who were arrested by a combined team of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners (GNASSM), the Amansie West District Assembly’s task-force and the police, have been handed over to the Manso Nkwanta police for further action.

Over 40 different mining equipment intercepted in the operation were destroyed.

Operation Final War

The arrest followed the launch of “Operation Final War” by the Amansie West District of Ashanti region, meant to launch a final onslaught on recalcitrant illegal miners and bring them to face the law.

Speaking to journalists on the first day of the operation, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Amansie West, William Bediako Asante, said the sustainability of the three-day exercise was necessary to bring down the curtain on illegal mining on the Offin river in the district, and protect the river against pollution.

According to him, the Assembly’s efforts to stop illegal mining activities were on course.

The DCE said some people had invaded the district to engage in galamsey, and warned that such people would not have their way, urging the recalcitrant persons to stop their activities and leave the area to avoid drastic consequences.

He commended the team spirit and resilience of the task-force, and pledged the Assembly’s total support to ensure the success of the operation.

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Source: Graphic Online

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The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s director-general for African affairs, Lin Songtian, told a Zambian diplomat in Beijing that China understands and supports actions to crack down on illegal mining, the ministry said in a statement late on Sunday.

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According to the State Attorney, the Chinese made false representation contrary to section 23 (1) of the criminal offences Act, 1960, Act 29, and Section 52 of the immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.

He also said the accused “conspired to undertake small scale mining operation without license contrary to section 23 (1) of the criminal offences Act 1960, Act 29”.

[contextly_sidebar id=”gKRVSmVFYIKhdqvjX2Wq0SHhY2i2pjr4″]Six other offenses were brought against the 10 accused persons, when the case was called for the third time at the Sekondi High Court 1.

On the State Attorney’s charge sheet, the six other offenses were “undertaking small scale mining operation without license contrary to section 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703”, “engaging in mining activity using methods not known or approved by the Environmental Protection Agency contrary to section 27 (3) of the EPA Act, 1994, Act 490”, “pollution of water contrary to section 24 of the Water Resources Commission Act, 1996, Act 522”, “pollution of water contrary to section 23(1) of the criminal offences Act, 1960, Act 1996, Act 522”, “conspiracy to commit offence to wit, causing intentional and unlawful harm and damage to property in a manner likely to cause danger to life contrary to section 23 (1) and 172 (2) of the criminal offences Act, Act 29, 1960”, and “causing unlawful damage intentionally and unlawfully to property in a manner likely to cause danger to life contrary to section 172 (2) of the criminal offences Act, 1960, Act 522.”

After deliberations on the case in court on Monday, the court, presided over by Justice Edward Amoako Asante, dismissed for the third time, a bail application filed by counsel for the five Chinese nationals and their 5 Ghanaian counterparts.

He ordered for their release from police custody to be remanded into prison custody to reappear before it on Wednesday, May 3, 2017.

Counsel for the accused, which had changed from the Kumasi based Lawyer Stephen Alewaba to the Shama based Lawyer Erickson Abakah, expressed disappointment in the court’s denial of his bail application when his clients have languished in police custody for four weeks.

“Regrettably, our bail application has been refused. Looking at the next adjourned date, if you say you’re appealing it will take you sometime. Personally, I’m of the view that having languished in cells for over four weeks, this case should be a case for which bail should be granted and ought not to be refused except for special circumstances. I’m actually disturbed that the accused persons should be remanded. Honestly, it’s not too palatable to say that people who are undergoing trial should still be remanded for an offence which is bailable.”

In their second appearance on April 10th, the lack of a certified Chinese interpreter forced the court to adjourn the case to April 24th, but  one has now been provided.

The five Chinese facing trial are Dong Cheng, 30, Hung Jian, 51, Ning Guorui, 42, Yin Biquiang, 46 and Li Zilong, 44. Their Ghanaian counterparts are Eric Owusu, 28, Kwabena Adjei, 50, Nana Adu, 42, Kwesi Owusu, 28 and Kofi Darko, 21.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Chinese illegal miners abused Ghana’s immigration laws – State Attorney appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Mission said government must minimize the mass arrest of illegal miners and deal with culprits on individual basis.

“We think it is very important that any operation against illegal mining should be carried out in line with Ghanaian laws and international recognized norms, the mass arrest and media hype should be minimized, the cases should be dealt with on individual base and the legitimate rights of the miners should be respected,” it said.

The Mission argued that some of the Chinese illegal miners were also victims of fraud and blackmail hence their cases must be holistically looked at by government before taking action.

“Since a great part of Chinese nationals involved in illegal mining are also victims of fraud and blackmail, if casualties are incurred and plundering and looting take place during operation, it will be extremely harmful to the bilateral relations,” it said.

In a letter addressed to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, the Mission chastised the media for its coverage on illegal mining in the country, accusing it of being biase and defaming Chinese leaders.

“There are a number of distorted or biased reports and stories on Chinese people, especially some reports and cartoons that are defaming Chinese leaders and senior officials. The Chinese side is very concerned about this unhealthy tendency. We hope that the Ghanaian government will pay due attention to this situation, take the necessary action to stop such things from happening again and guide the media to give an objective coverage on the illegal mining issue so as to create a good environment for further development of our bilateral exchanges and cooperation,” the letter said.

Campaigns against illegal mining in the country have in the last few months intensified with Citi FM championing a #StopGalamseyNow campaign that is gaining momentum, rallying various stakeholders to address the menace which has left devastating effects on the country’s environment.

Evidence from media reports and CSOs, including police arrests, suggest the high involvement of Chinese in the activities, but according to the Chinese mission in the country, its [Chinese] government attaches great important to the illegal mining issue and is firmly against the involvement of Chinese in illegal mining in Ghana.

The mission has further directed the government to furnish it with information on the identity of all Chinese illegal miners and their repatriation information because “this will greatly elevate the mutual trust on both sides and help improve the Chinese side’s work of source control and education campaign.”

It also urged the Minerals Commission to ensure transparency in the approval of mining and prospective mining permits to boost the confidence of Chinese enterprises in the country in gaining permits for their operations.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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The police, who are said to have carried the raid at about 2:00am Tuesday [February 21, 2017], also arrested children of school-going age.

Speaking to Citi News, a former Assembly Member for the Sefwi Mafia Electoral Area, Stephen Anobil, narrated that “Chinese miners invaded our community about a week ago. They went to our cocoa farms without permission and started digging them out. They then headed into the only stream serving as the source of drinking water for the community. When we realized; they were brought into the community by our chief Nana Sanfo II, we insisted the illegal miners leave our farms.”

“That ended up in a scuffle between the illegal miners and community members. In the process, an excavator belonging to the Chinese was burnt down. That has happened about a week ago until last night about 2:00am; when we heard people running helter-skelter. When we checked, it was the joint force that was arresting people who are alleged to have resisted the Chinese illegal miners”.

He continued that “they come to your door, ask you to open. If you fail, they use teargas to force you out. They then beat and force you into their car. They beat everyone including women and children”.

Stephen Anobil also said that “a woman who was asleep with his son was forced out naked. When she told them her husband has travelled, they forcefully entered her room and ransacked her bags. His son was also beaten to the point that I have to take him to a nearby clinic for attention this morning.”

He concluded that “as we speak, our community is empty. All others have run away into the bush.”

Those arrested have been taken to the Sefwi Asawinso Police Command for interrogation.
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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to them, they had contracted huge loans for their operations and risks selling their properties to pay back the loans if they are stopped.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vLWWFfrXgmfbITVcy3hH5YFn9Baziojn”]The Vice Chairman of the group, Morro Ayaana in a Citi News interview threatened that the group will fiercely prevent political party campaigns in the area if their operations are disrupted.

“We have not been very productive for three years and through our own initiative we are able to invest in the concession. We told money from gold dealers so if the work does not do well, we have to sell our property to pay back the loan.”

“We haven’t event benefited since we started this job. We owe a lot of people and they are politicizing the issue. The government in power must ensure that every citizen is comfortable. AshantiGold cannot take the law into their own hands by bringing in soldiers here when even the Municipal Chief Executive and the Regional Minister have no idea about it,” he added.

Morro Ayaana added that the group is determined to ensure that all the youth in the area benefit from their mining operations.

“If we are unable to succeed with this job, no politician should come here and campaign. The job is for the residents of Adansi. It is not for the National Democratic Congress or the New Patriotic Party. Every youth in this community must benefit from this job. We will demonstrate consistently for a month until there is peace,” he said.

“We don’t have a problem with the military, they don’t even have a camp here but someone brought them here to come and disturb us,” he concluded.

‘Illegal miners vandalize party offices’

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 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.

‘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.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Residents threaten gov’t over attempts to stop galamsey appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.