A viral video of suspected illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) operators lying prostrate in dirty and muddy water surrounded by some officers in military uniform with guns is making waves on the internet.
It has emerged that some personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces working to prevent illegal mining activities in the Ashanti region have been torturing and treating the galamsey operators inhumanely.
In the said video, some of the galamseyers were shirtless and others had been fully immersed in the mud as the uniformed soldiers supervised them through the punishment.
The galamseyers, according to some reports, were operating in a mining concession which belongs to Anglogold Ashanti.
They reportedly sneaked into the underground pits of the company despite warnings and were said to be mining when the armed security officers arrested them on Friday, July 15, 2022.
The minority in Parliament on Tuesday, July 19, raised the concerns in Parliament and condemned the inhumane treatment of the galamseyers.
John Jinapor, the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee described the treatment as “inhumane, despicable, unfortunate and highly reprehensible.”
“We are well informed that on the 15th of July, arrested some suspected illegal miners on the AngloGold field and subjected them to torture, inhuman treatment, abuse of their human rights amongst others.
“The minority find this development most unfortunate and disturbing and we strongly condemn the use of brutal, excessive and disproportionate force in the so-called fight against illegal mining. This flagrant disregard of our laws and constitution under the Akufo-Addo-led government is most unfortunate and must be roundly condemned in the strongest terms possible,” he said.
Jinapor noted “even much disturbing is the information that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led Government remains mute pursuing this incident. This is simply a heinous transgression meted out to the mean Ghanaians…while turning an unsighted oculus into foreigners.
“Foreigners connected the different hand, are ever treated with kids’ gloves and successful immoderate instances the instrumentality compromised to favour them successfully the sanction of gathering planetary relations,” John Jinapor stressed.
Source: Ghanaweb.com
