Two Chinese nationals have been arrested for engaging in illegal mining otherwise known as ‘galamsey’ in the Offin Shelter Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region.
This was during a joint operation by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Ashanti Regional Security Council.
Fifteen excavators used for illegal mining activities in the above-mentioned forest reserve were also confiscated.
Amid the heightened fears about the devastating impact of illegal mining in the country, the move forms part of government immediate actions to tackle the menace.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah has also reaffirmed government commitment to ending illegal mining, revealing that he has already started receiving calls from powerful individuals attempting to interfere in the fight against the menace.
“We are coming after you. You have a choice—leave now or be arrested along with your co-conspirators. Investigations are already underway, tracking those involved, from miners to their financiers and those who rent out excavators. They will all face the full rigors of the law,” Kofi Buah declared.
“Let me warn those trying to intervene on behalf of Chinese nationals arrested for illegal mining. Yesterday, I received one of those calls, and I made it clear—the only person who can instruct me to release them is the President of the Republic… And let me assure you, the President will not call anybody,” he emphasized.
