Galamsey Fight: 45 People Including 10 Chinese Being Prosecuted – Attorney General

The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame has revealed that 45 persons, 10 of whom are Chinese are currently being prosecuted for engaging in illegal mining (galamsey).

According to the AG, the prosecutions which started this month (May 2021), follow arrests made in the past two weeks by the anti galamsey Taskforce.

Mr Godfred Dame made the disclosure on News File Show on Joy News monitored by wontumionline.com

He was reacting to claims that the government is focused on burning excavators and other mining equipment seized by the Military Taskforce and has failed to prosecute the persons behind the illegal mining.

Mr Godfred Dame noted that under the current laws no Chinese national arrested and prosecuted for engaging in galamsey will be freed and flown back to his or her country as it happened in Aisha Huang’s case.

“The current laws do not countenance the extradition of any Chinese after the person has been convicted. So you can be assured that the process will be followed to its conclusion and there will be conviction and they will serve their sentences in Ghana after which they will be deported if any.”

Meanwhile, over 400 military personnel under the Operation Halt team have been deployed to the Ankobra River and its tributaries to remove all persons and logistics involved in mining on water bodies.

This is the fourth phase of Operation Halt II, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said in a statement.

“The public is advised to stay away from mining in water bodies to avoid any action by the forces,” the Minister of Information advised.

Government has renewed its efforts to clamp down on illegal mining, with the deployment of military Taskforce directed to destroy all excavators on site.

The Taskforce reportedly set ablaze 25 excavators in the Central Region a fortnight ago.

The excavators were burned in the houses of their owners in Ntafrewaso, Asamoah Krom and Awisem, all in the Twifo Praso District.