The National Concerned Small Scale Miners Association of Ghana intends to protest against the incumbent government if it fails to identify perpetrators who shot two miners at Nfante in the Ahafo Ano North District of the Ashanti Region over the weekend.
The Association, in a statement issued on November 14, noted with dismay the barbaric attack on the “innocent breadwinners” at the mining site by some Forestry Commission operations staff.
“The National Concerned Small Scale Miners Association of Ghana has noted and learned with dismay the barbaric bloodbath visited on unarmed artisanal miners by some Forestry Commission operatives at Nfante in the Ahafo Ano North District of the Ashanti region over the weekend”.
“The murder of two innocent breadwinners who were engaged in lawful work cannot be swept under the carpet as the government continues on a shameful face-saving enterprise after failing to deal with the illegal mining menace for seven years. It is worthy of note that the location of the event is a Community Mining site that was commissioned by this same government, to provide up to 2000 jobs for the youth in that area; how then would a government agency arbitrarily storm the site with the intention to shoot to
kill under the guise of fighting galamsey”.
“As an association, we are convinced that this carnage was perpetrated to further a sinister political agenda and therefore calls on the government to immediately institute measures to investigate the matter to bring the trigger-happy forestry employees and their paymasters to book”.
“We give the government two days to take immediate steps to resolve this matter and bring the murderers to justice or prepare to kill even more innocent miners as we are prepared to mobilize the youth in the area to demonstrate and also cause them to vote massively against the NPP in the 2024 elections”, the statement signed by the president of the National Concerned Small Scale Miners Association of Ghana, Michael Kwadwo Peprah, noted.
The small-scale miners also expressed worry over how the government releases arable lands and forest reserves to powerful politicians and Chinese nationals for mining.
“The government of the day, with the help of the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources has given out 95% of the country’s various forest covers to political apparatchiks and Chinese nationals to aid them in acquiring the various licenses to mine after declaring all forest reserves as red zone areas including Kakum and Mole National Parks, just to mention a few”.
Find the full statement below