Residents threaten gov’t over attempts to stop galamsey

Some illegal miners in Obuasi in the Ashanti Region have vowed to vehemently oppose anyone or group of persons who attempt to halt their operations in the area.

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.

The Vice Chairman of the group, Nana Awuku 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.

Nana Awuku 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