A financier of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nana Anyimadu Noah, has been arrested for his involvement in illegal small-scale mining, also known as “galamsey.” The arrest has stirred conversations about illegal mining operations in Ghana, with reports indicating that Nana Anyimadu Noah has been recruiting people from neighboring countries, specifically Togo and Burkina Faso, to engage in mining activities in the country’s water bodies.
According to a report by GhanaWeb, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye, a Member of Parliament for Effiduase-Asokore, shared these revelations during an interview. He explained that an anti-galamsey task force arrested some of these foreign miners in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where they were discovered mining illegally. These individuals, who initially claimed to be from the Volta Region, were later found to be from Togo.
According to Dr. Afriye, during the arrest, one of the Togolese miners began crying, prompting a woman to console him, saying, “Don’t cry because men don’t cry.” The arrested individuals were soon brought before a court to face the charges against them. Dr. Afriye said, “When they were arrested, they said that the name of the leader who brought them was Nana Anyimadu Noah; he has been arraigned before the court as we speak now, I have his video on my phone.”
Dr. Afriye, who is also the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Campaign Coordinator for the Middle Belt, went further to disclose that Nana Anyimadu Noah has been heavily involved in bringing in these illegal miners from Togo and Burkina Faso, making significant profits from their illegal activities. He pointed out that the financier had been misleading people by portraying himself as someone who is simply involved in small-scale mining, while in reality, he was engaging in these harmful activities.
According to Dr. Afriye, “The major financier of the NDC, who says that the government is destroying our waters so vote against them, people thought he was engaging in small-scale mining, not knowing he was the one who has been bringing Togolese and Burkinabes to be mining in our waters.”
The issue of galamsey has long been a pressing problem in Ghana, as it leads to environmental damage, particularly the contamination of water bodies. This illegal mining practice has been difficult to curb, despite the government’s efforts, and the involvement of foreign nationals has added another layer of complexity to the issue.
The arrest of the foreign miners and Nana Anyimadu Noah is seen as a significant step forward in the fight against illegal mining. During the operations, the task force seized mining equipment, including speedboats and 40 chanfans, which are machines used for extracting gold from riverbeds.
Dr. Afriye stressed that the arrest of the Togolese miners and their financier highlights the scale of the problem. He emphasized that the NDC financier had been actively undermining efforts to protect the country’s water bodies by continuing to facilitate illegal mining activities.
He described how the NDC figure had been spreading a narrative that the government was deliberately destroying water bodies, encouraging people to vote against them, while, behind the scenes, he was involved in illegal operations contributing to the problem.
Source: m.dailyadvent.com
