3 Chinese, 3 Ghanaian 'galamseyers' arrested

Six illegal miners have been arrested in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region.

They include three Chinese and three Ghanaians.

Two of the Chinese, Xig Tern and Liang Huanqun, were arrested by the monitoring team of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) at Agyadwokrom near Manso Nkwanta.

The three Ghanaians; John Laari, Agyeman Kojo Richard and Musah, and one Chinese, Qin-Yongiun, were arrested by the Amansie West District taskforce led by the District Chief Executive, Nii Ollenu at Akontam, near Abore.

The Head of the Inter-Ministerial taskforce, Francis Asibi Abu told host of the Kumasi Morning Show on Kumasi 104.1 FM on Monday, 29 April 2019 that the National Disaster Management Organisation’s Director for Amansie West, Mr Samuel Asare-Brew and an official of the Youth Employment Authority, Mr Owusu Mensah, begged him to release the Chinese galamseyers, since, according to them, they are their partners.

Mr Abu said the illegal Chinese miners were not released despite the plea.

He told Show host Akwesi Agudey that the two Chinese will be transferred to Accra from Obuasi where they are currently in the custody of the police.

Amansie West DCE, Nii Ollenu, told the show that the illegal miners arrested by him and the assembly taskforce will be arraigned on Monday, 29 April 2019.

Meanwhile, the NADMO Director for Amansie West has denied begging the monitoring team of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining to release the Chinese.

Mr Asare-Brew said on the same show that he had several phone calls about gunshots at Agyadwokrom and decided to go there with some of his personnel and the Amansie West Constituency Organiser of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Owusu Mensah, only to witness the arrest of the Chinese.

He said they went to the area because of the gunshot report they received but were not there to beg for the release of Chinese illegal miners.