A confrontation ensued between illegal miners and government’s anti-galamsey taskforce after a planned operation to get rid of individuals and groups destroying the Akomfere forest and polluting the Offin river almost went wrong.
For about thirty minutes, heavily armed men held national security, police, media, and Dr. Louisa Hannah Bissiw, the administrator of the Mineral Development Fund, hostage.
Illicit mining in the Atwima Mponua district of the Ashanti region is on the rise, since extensive tracts of land are owned and destroyed by Chinese nationals, who are safeguarded by locals posing as their bodyguards.
On the eve of Thursday, Dr. Louisa Hannah Bissiw, together with her team picked intelligence from Akomfere about an ongoing illegal activity being championed by Chinese nationals. The foreigners live in fortified house to conceal their activities. At least four of the illegal foreigners are reportedly housed in a three-bedroom residence.
The team moved straight to the location unannounced to arrest culprits destroying the forest and polluting the offin river. They fled the moment they got wind of the taskforce presence but they were however caught about a kilometer away. 7 of them were arrested.
Dr. Bissiw led them to the very site they had destroyed.
“My greatest disappointment as a woman, a Ghanaian, and a leader would be witnessing these individuals released, followed by demands for President Dramani Mahama to allocate funds for the restoration of water bodies,” she remarked.
Despite a standoff between the taskforce and the thugs, both parties came into agreement to transfer the Chinese detainees to the Nhyinahin District Police Headquarters.
A police commander at Akomfere had a misunderstanding with Dr. Hannah Bissiw, administrator of the Mineral Development Fund, as he questioned the reason behind the operation.
Reports indicate that the police commander, whose name is withheld, alerted the illegal miners about the arrest of the Chinese nationals, which subsequently resulted in a serious altercation between the taskforce and the armed thugs.
The culprits were immediately arraigned before the Tafo District Court and have been remanded into police custody for two weeks.
