He is accused of deploying some illegal miners with explosives into a Shaanxi Mining company site to steal gold ores.

Akwasi Appiah’s activities are believed to have led to the death of some seven illegal miners who were trapped in April 2017.

The Bolgatanga Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent  Samuel Punobyin, confirmed that, the suspect was arrested on Tuesday night during a swoop, with explosives, weapons, and ammunition found at his abode at Gbane.

The suspect will be arraigned on Thursday, October 19, for possessing weapons and ammunition without authority.

“We got intelligence that the suspect Akwasi Appiah aka Kwasi Bantama, had in his possession weapons, ammunition and explosives which led to a swoop on his premises at the Obuasi site of the Gbane mining area in the Talensi district.”

Upon a search in Akwasi Appiah’s room, one France made pistol, 3 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition, 15 rounds of pistol ammunition, and 15 pieces of 150g explosives were found.”

“We also gathered that, the suspect Akwasi Appiah, supplies these explosives to illegal miners in the area, and so he will be arraigned today[Friday] 19th October, 2017, for possessing weapons, ammunition and explosives without authority” Supt Punobyin stated.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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On the 4th of May 2017, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources John Peter Amewu suspended the operations of  Shaanxi Mining company to allow for investigations into the death of some illegal miners alleged to have been trapped within the mine.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1Bjzb3nUx8gQ65VxT3VJAcI3NyRSHVao”]Mr. John Amewu paid a working visit to Shaanxi mine on the 9th of August 2017 after an investigative team constituted to investigate circumstance leading to the death of seven illegal miners submitted its report to him.

In a letter signed by Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Sulemana Mahama dated August 22, 2017 and cited by citifmonline.com, has directed Shaanxi mining company to commence work.

Find below the full statement

RE: APPEAL TO REOPEN MINE

Reference our letter dated July 18, 2017 approving your request for approval to carry out general maintenance of the Shaanxi Mine and for the mine to reopen.

I have been instructed by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu to inform you that following his visit to the mine on 9th August 2017, he noted the progress you have made so far to ensure Health, Safety and Environment within the mine in compliance with his earlier directivities and therefore approves your request to reopen the mine.

You are to conduct the mining operations in a sustainable manner , bearing in mind human safety and environmental sustainability.

You are also to strictly adhere to the tenets of the mining law and the regulations on mining in the country.

The Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission shall continue to monitor your operations and report to the Minister as stipulated in the mining lease with which you are operating.

Yours faithfully,

SULEMANA MAHAMA

1. CHIF DIRECTOR

FOR: MINISTER

Speaking to CitiNews, the Public Relations Officer of Shaanxi Mining Limited Maxwell Wooma expressed satisfaction at the timely intervention of the ministry, adding that, the company will start full operations by Monday.

“Management has just received the information and we are convening  an emergency meeting immediately  so that, we can recall the over 500 workers who are at home, get them through proper induction again and we are hoping that, by Monday 28th August 2017 we shall be back to full business”. Mr. Wooma stated.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to a letter signed by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, the suspension is to allow for thorough investigations into the company’s underground operations, and the alleged death of about seven miners in the area.

[contextly_sidebar id=”oCQUFWUdDz71DQgG7plzqVTBQ2WRNlEu”]As a result, 500 permanent workers of the company have been asked to go home until further notice, while 52 workers are currently ensuring care and maintenance of the company’s mining shafts.

Speaking to Citi News in Gbane, the frustrated employees described the decision by the sector minister as unfair, cautioning the joblessness may led to social vices in the area.

An employee, Elizabeth Yinnama, said, “we are  appealing to government to come to our aid, if not when we will go back to our various homes, and we may turn to armed robbery because going home, I don’t think I can survive because I don’t have anything to do; but the Galamsey workers are not helping anyone in this community.”

Miss Salina Amaze, a geologist also sided with the employees, saying “workers of Shaanxi cannot allow Galamsey intruders to let government close down the company, it will affect me and my colleagues.”

But at a press conference in Gbane, Shaanxi mining company’s Underground Mine Manager, Thomas Tii Yenzanya, said even though they have complied with the minister’s directive, efforts should be put in place to protect their shafts  from being exploited by the Galamsey miners pending the outcome of the investigations.

Mr. Yenzanya said all mining operations of the company have been suspended except for care and maintenance works.

“There will be loss of production, there will be more intrusion into the area by the illegal miners because they will be mining underground chopping the pillars, stealing the gold ore and probably destroying our equipment but it’s a directive.”

Shaanxi Mining Company Reacts to Allegations

Citi News can confirm that, the Yenyeya and Pubortaaba small scale mining groups for which Shaanxi mining company is rendering support mining services to, were licensed on the 7th January 2007 and 9th October 2009 respectively by the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals commission of Ghana.

Underground Mine Manager of Shaanxi mining company, Mr. Yenzanya provided documentation for the payments of employees’ SSNIT up to April, 2017.

He indicated that, the company has fulfilled its tax and royalties obligation since its operations with enormous corporate social responsibility projects ranging from boreholes, schools, bridges and scholarships for needy but brilliant students in the area.

Mr. Yenzanga denied allegations that, the company’s blasting takes place unannounced, adding that, blasting time is between 10:00 pm to 12:00 am. He also added that, workers were sacked following due processes.

Meanwhile, investigations have commenced into the circumstances that led to the deaths of about seven illegal miners who were reported to have been trapped by smoke from one of the Shaanxi mining shafts on the 7th of April 2017.

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By: Fredrick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Most countries Vodafone operates in need a warrant to intercept communications, the firm said.

However, in some countries police have a direct link to customer’s phone calls and web communications.

Surveillance by governments has been in the public eye since revelations by US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Vodafone said it values customer privacy, but it must comply with laws “designed to protect national security and public safety”.

In most of the 29 countries where Vodafone has major operations, including the UK, law enforcement and intelligence agencies must have a warrant to listen to phone calls or look at text messages, emails or web chats.

The firm said it could not specify the countries that have a direct line into its networks, because those countries have laws prohibiting disclosure of surveillance methods.

In six out of the 29 countries, governments have a permanent link to monitor communications, the BBC understands.

In its first- ever transparency report , Vodafone said that in a small number of countries, it “will not receive any form of demand for lawful interception access, as the relevant agencies and authorities already have permanent access to customer communications via their own direct link”.

Human rights campaign organisation Liberty called the government powers “terrifying”.

Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: “For governments to access phone calls at the flick of a switch is unprecedented and terrifying.

“The defeated Snoopers’ Charter tried to take us down this path, but Snowden revealed the internet was already treated as fair game. Bluster that all is well is wearing pretty thin – our analogue laws need a digital overhaul.”

Analysis – Gordon Corera, security correspondent, BBC News

Vodafone’s report is a sign that telecoms companies are joining internet and other tech companies in providing for more transparency in their role sitting between customers and government.

The report is not directly linked to the revelations from Edward Snowden since people have always known that communications companies can be required to intercept communications or hand over data under the law of whatever country they operate in.

But neither governments nor communications companies used to like talking about it.

The Snowden revelations have forced the wider issue of government surveillance into the open and accelerated the transparency drive.

We knew the details of what some countries do already from existing reports like that of the Interception of Communications Commissioner in the UK.

But one of the challenges is that different countries have different laws, different ways of counting requests and also have a different willingness to be open about what they demand of telecoms companies. This makes comparison between countries difficult despite Vodafone’s attempt to put more information into the public domain.

Source: BBC

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They include Mobile Broadband Internet of the Year; Telecom Wholesale Provider of the Year; Best Use of Social Media; and Mobile Operator of the Year. For the first time, Vodafone Business Solutions, VBS, picked up Telecom Business Service of the Year; while Vodafone Red was adjudged Marketing Campaign of the Year.

For the third year running Vodafone again picked up Telecom Brand of the Year.

Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Haris Broumidis could not hide his excitement.

“It has been an amazing year at Vodafone, our innovation, excellence and most importantly commitment to giving value to our customers has paid off” he exclaimed.

He emphasized “Vodafone Ghana’s biggest asset is its employees and these awards show that together we can provide all Ghanaians with an amazing experience on the network”.

As a brand Vodafone Ghana seems to have it all together and touch lives across all segments. “We cut across from products to CSR to Music and providing our customers with value and this is because we take our customer insights very seriously” said the Chief Marketing Officer, Uche Ofodile who since joining the company has taken giant steps to transforming the company by doubling revenue and market share.

Picking up Mobile Operator of the Year did not come as a surprise to many as in the year under review Vodafone for 13 consecutive months met all the KPIs of the national regulator, the National Communications Authority when all others were struggling and were fined for one mishap or the other.

Source: Vodafone Ghana

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