Greedy Soldiers Stun Amewu

… Provide Sanctuary For Russians To Ruin The Environment

… Defence Minister, GAF Probe National Embarrassment

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is basking in a national shame, following the involvement of some of its personnel in illegal mining in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, thus bringing the image of Ghana’s most disciplined security outfit into disrepute.

The GAF, which has sworn heaven and earth that its personnel are not involved in illegal mining, has been exposed for teaming up with Russians and Ukrainians to wreck Ghana's water bodies, forests and farm lands, through illegal mining.

On Monday, 22nd May 2017, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources was shocked when he chanced upon 15 military and five police officers guarding four illegal mining sites, namely; Geo Professional Services (GPS), Kasmil Mining Company Limited, K. Afriyie and Sons, Precious Metal Company and King Solomon Mining Company.

The Chronicle gathered that Lt. Gen Arhin is a commander of the military, who led these military officers to Manso Tontokrom to give protection to the Russians and Ukrainians engaged in illegal mining in the said town.

It has also been established that there are 42 Russians and Ukrainian nationals mining at Tontokrom under armed military and police protection. These four mining firms are primarily owned by Russia and Ukrainian nationals.

Addressing the media, Minister Amewu said: “The military are protecting illegality and nobody can say that it is not true.

The Minister explained that at most of the sites his team visited, the military personnel were stationed there, and this is not coming from the lands and natural resources office.”

He stated: “I tried checking from the Minerals Commission (MC) if they deployed the soldiers here, but they said they never, and on any occasion, sign a pact with the military to allow them to be protecting an illegality. He said enquires at his sector ministry also indicated that his

ministry had no contract with the military department to protect the illegality.

On the way forward, Mr. John Peter Amewu indicated: “We want to call the military hierarchy to come and tell Ghanaians why they are protecting an illegality.”

The Minister, looking bemused, stated: “As for me, as long as the military continues to do this, the fight against the illegal mining is going to be very difficult for us.”

He wondered under what circumstances the military and police would protect mining sites which operate without licenses, and said: “These military officers are being paid, and we need to interrogate this.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Amewu stated that he was extremely excited that some names of the military personnel are being mentioned, adding: “At the appropriate time, these names will come out.”

He asked who the military officers were, and who deployed them to the site? On the lawlessness of the security agencies, Amewu opined: “It is time the laws of Ghana were allowed to work, with the enforcement agencies prepared to play a very vital role.

“Ghana is becoming lawlessness, where any citizen from any country can come in and do anything at all.”

The Minister disclosed that, per his checks, these illegal Russians and Ukrainian miners have been mining in the area for the past 35 years, and they have not paid a single royalty to Ghana.

“Look at the kind of ore they are extracting from the site, this cannot continue, and it must be stopped.”

According him, Chinese nationals seem to dominate foreigners, who are illegally mining in Ghana, but, “today, we met Russians and Ukrainians, and there are a lot of people out there from Burkina Faso and Togo.”

Responding to a question, Mr. Amewu noted: “I think people holding responsible positions must begin to answer questions. The fight is on-going; we will continue to do our best.

“Meanwhile, at the time of filing this story, the four arrested illegal miners, in the persons of Coemwotti Putats, Chepaiyin Serchii, Farid Issaer and Vadim, were at the Ashanti Regional Police Command, waiting to be processed to Accra for further interrogation.

In a telephone interaction with the Public Relations Director of the GAF, Col Aggrey Quarshie, he noted that the military had not sanctioned anybody to Manso Tontokrom, and that the military hierarchy will open an inquiry into the issue, and try to unravel the truth about it.

Nitiwul Orders Probe
Meanwhile, Citifmonline reports that the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, has instructed the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Obed Akwa, to immediately begin investigations into allegations of some military men protecting illegal gold mining concessions, especially, in the Ashanti Region.

He said his outfit will ensure that any military personnel caught to be engaged in the illegal act will be duly dealt with.

Dominic Nitiwul was reacting to claims by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu , who alleged, on Monday, that some military officers were offering protection for some foreigners who were mining illegally.

“I would not want to doubt what he (Amewu) has put out there… If there is any soldier or Commanding Officer in any of our garrisons or battalion that has allowed his soldiers to go and engage in illegal mining, the army is not aware of it.

“As it stands now, the army has not and will not authorise anybody to engage in protecting galamseyers.

“When anybody is found out to have acted against the army directives, that person will be taken through the due process first – through the army disciplinary process, and, of course, the civilian processes,” Dominic Nitiwul said.

He noted that the Ministry is in the process of reviewing the current regime, which allows soldiers to protect mining concessions.

I lost my job because of anti-galamsey fight

A former Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, Joseph Yamin, has also revealed that he lost his job because of his stance against illegal mining in the region.

Joseph Yamin, who is also a former Deputy Sports Minister and head of the anti-galamsey committee for the region, said the anti-galamsey campaign that has been going on will not be won easily.

Speaking on a political discussion on a London-based radio station on Sunday, Mr Yamin said he abandoned his hopes of enforcing the elimination of galamsey due to persecution from strong people within and outside the NDC government, the armed forces, and chiefs.

He accused some senior officials and prominent people of allegedly engineering his “downfall”, because of his firm anti-galamsey stance.

He said his detractors felt uncomfortable with his anti-graft crusade, hence the reason why he was sacked and subsequently replaced.

From Richard Owusu-Akyaw, Kumasi