Operation Halt burns galamsey office of NPP Women's Organiser
- The military taskforce against illegal mining has burnt a mining office in the Eastern Region
- The office belongs to the NPP women’s organizer, Kate Gyamfua
- Kate has so far lost 8 excavators, burnt by the Operation Halt team
The National Women’s Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kate Gyamfua, has had her office that sees to the operations of her mining company burnt by the military taskforce on illegal mining.
There are reports that the burning of the office did not come easy. Joy News reports that the security officers protecting the office of Kate Gyamfua were assaulted with the guns belonging to the military.
“They came here yesterday [Saturday] around 4 pm and started destroying things. They have burnt our office, the plant and some other things. They also beat the security guys hired by Madam Gyamfua to protect the remaining equipment on the site because, after the previous attack, some people have been stealing from here. They used the butt of their rifles to hit them several times,” secretary to Kate Gyamfua, Nana Asante Yeboah, alleged.
So far, eight excavators have been burnt as part of the operations of the military task force against galamsey (illegal mining).
Source: UGC
The fight against illegal mining has uncovered dealings of a mining firm – Xtra-Gold – into activities of criminality.
A probe into dealings of Xtra-Gold at Atiwa in the Eastern Region shows it forcefully acquired land from chiefs and later use them for galamsey. It further shows that the company illegally recruits staff for this purpose.
It follows the begging of chides of Apampatia in the Eastern Region to the minister in charge of lands and natural resources to relocate the concessions from Xtra-Gold to them so they can use it for other profitable purposes like responsible mining and agriculture.
Meanwhile, officials of Xtra-Gold have declined comment on the report and other issues raised by the investigative team.
In a related story
A Chinese man, believed to be a member of a gold mining syndicate in Ghana, has been busted by the military taskforce against illegal small scale mining along water bodies.
This came to light in a video chanced upon by YEN.com.gh in which a military operative of the taskforce queries the Chinese man on the moral basis for polluting river bodies all in the thirst for gold.
“Do you see what you have done to our river, can you drink this?” he quizzed the Chinese who looked disoriented and ashamed.
The video, captured on the Twitter Page of JoyNews Journalist, Charles Ayitey, shows the military quizzing the Chinese illegal miner.
A swoop of their operations show the syndicate operating deep in the forest – all in hiding. They have managed to lay huge pipes to the river bodies. One plant pulls up the river water to wash gold while the other discharges the waste water with chemicals into the river bodies.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
