Two individuals at Anyinam in the Eastern Region are in police custody for their involvement with disturbances and damage caused to properties during the Atiwa East NDC Constituency Elections on October 23, 2022.
The suspects are; Patrick Anyimadu and Millicent Pennin.
According to the Police, the suspects allegedly engaged some people to attack and destroy some properties and also disturb the peace of the area.
The suspects are currently assisting the Police in their investigations while efforts are made to close in on the other conspirators.
Read the full statement below:
POLICE ARREST TWO SUSPECTS OVER ELECTION DISTURBANCES AT ANYINAM IN THE EASTERN REGION
The Police have arrested two suspects at Anyinam in the Eastern Region in connection with disturbances and damage caused to properties during the Atiwa East NDC Constituency Elections on October 23, 2022.
The suspects allegedly engaged some people to attack and destroy some properties and also disturb the peace of the area.
Suspects Patrick Anyimadu and Millicent Pennin are currently in Police custody assisting investigation while efforts are underway to get the other accomplices arrested to face justice.
The chiefs and people of Asamang Tamfoe, a farming community near Anyinam in the Atiwa East District of the Eastern Region, have dismissed claims that the youth in the town are involved in illegal mining (galamsey).
At a press conference at Asamang Tamfoe on Monday, the Benkumhene of the town, Nana Boakye Darkwa, said the area had been licensed for a community mining programme which the government launched in June this year.
Shooting indiscriminately
On Thursday, September 29, 2022, members of the Okyeman Environmental Taskforce and the Kibi Divisional Police Command raided the town and that led to indiscriminate shootings during which some of the young men sustained gunshot wounds and had to be treated at the hospital.
Clad in red bands
Nana Darkwa, who is also the Chairman of the government’s community mining committee, clad in red band and surrounded by other members of the community, including the youth of the town all of whom were clad in red apparell, said it was unfortunate that the chief of Apapam, Osabarima Okogyeaman Apagya Ofori, should lead the Okyeman Taskforce to direct its members to shoot at innocent young men in the town who were engaged in licensed community mining but not illegal mining.
We will face them squarely
“If they come back to the community, we will face them squarely”, the Benkumhene of Asamang Tamfoe indicated.
Nana Darkwa stressed that if the Apapamhene and the taskforce were actually clamping down on illegal miners, they should have presented themselves to the Benkumhene of the town to announce their presence and intentions.
The Benkumhene pointed out that they failed to do so but rather started shooting indiscriminately leading to many of the youth sustaining gunshot wounds.
He also expressed displeasure with the involvement of the Kyebi Divisional Police Commander, Superintendent Magnus Reindorf Sam, who led the Okyeman Taskforce and called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, to immediately remove the commander from the area because he did not do the right thing.
Most of the youth in the town, who were engaged in government’s community mining, said they were for peace that was why they decided not to physically confront the police and the taskforce.
According to the youth, the community mining concept was the initiative of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and so the President should call the Okyeman Taskforce and the Kyebi Divisional Police Commander to order.
Background
The Kibi Divisional Police Command together with the Okyeman Environmental Taskforce on Thursday, September 27, 2022 undertook a joint operation and arrested 24 young men suspected to be engaging in illegal mining at Asamang Tamfoe.
The taskforce seized some mining equipment, including excavators.
More arrests in relation to illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, have recently been carried out across the country, in efforts to clamp down on the canker.
About two weeks ago, 164 arrests were made in Anyinam and Mampong in a three-day operation by the Operation Halt task force.
In a related development, one more person has been arrested, and 12 excavators have been seized by the soldiers under the second phase of Operation Halt.
The latest arrest was carried out after members of the task force stormed mining sites within the Atwima Mponua and Amansie South districts of the Ashanti region.
One car and a motorbike were also impounded at some mining sites during the operation. The activities of illegal miners have become rife in the country despite laws and measures instituted to clamp down on their activities.
The activities of these illegal miners have immensely destroyed water bodies such as the River Pra, Offin, and Birim; land resources have also been spared.
According to recent statistics from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), over 19,000 hectares of cocoa farmland have been destroyed as a result of the activities of illegal miners. With the current happenings, a section of the public has come to the conclusion that the galamsey fight is a lost cause.
Meanwhile, the government has vehemently contested this claim, insisting that it will not relent on clamping down on illegal miners and their activities.
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has, on many occasions, re-echoed the government’s commitment to
battling malaria in the country.
In addition to the Operation Halt task force introduced to check the canker, the government also launched a small-scale mining awards programme, which seeks to promote and encourage responsible small-scale mining last year.
Speaking at the launch of this year’s award programme, Mr. HIV: Don’t be scared, get checked – GHANET assures Jinapor noted that the government remains unwavering in its efforts to sanitise and regulate the small-scale mining sector, which provides an estimated 40 percent of Ghana’s total gold output.
“The government is very mindful of the consequential and important nature of the small-scale mining sector of our country,” he noted, although he acknowledged that there are pertinent challenges that need to be addressed.
He further mentioned that the government has introduced several reformative measures, including the start of the community mining scheme, the introduction of mercury-free mining equipment, and the alternative livelihoods
programme.