Illegal miners attack mining company, burn 12 vehicles

Some illegal small-small miners, otherwise known as galamseyers on Thursday, March 16, 2023, attacked Golden Star Wassa Mine at Benso in the Western Region.

According to the Head of Group Corporate Affairs of the company, Gerard Hillary Osei Boakye, the attackers destroyed some company properties including 12 vehicles.

He listed an ambulance, pickups, excavators, air conditioners, as some of the items burnt by the galamseyers.

Speaking on Citi FM's Eyewitness News on Friday, March 17, 2023, Mr Boakye explained that the illegal miners invaded a concession of the mining company and in an attempt to drive them away from the land with the help of the police, they got infuriated.

He however noted that some might have been injured in the process, hence, their anger and retaliation.

“We usually do our patrols to protect our concession which is required of us by law to be responsible for our boundaries and also prevent incursions, to make sure that community people, hunters, and farms are safe. On one such occasion which was Thursday, March 16, we encountered some illegal miners encroaching, we engaged them as part of our modus operandi and told them to move away,” he said on the show.

Mr Boakye further said, “They were interested in that area, so they came back and when they came back, we tried to ward them off with the help of the police. They dispersed again and apparently unconfirmed report reaching us is that they may have been injured in the cause of being dispersed. That probably infuriated them, and they came back torch our vehicles and ran our security post down, destroyed our offices, basically burnt things down.”

“As many as 12 vehicles including an ambulance, pickups, excavators, buildings, offices, air-conditioned, our security post,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, calm has been restored and the police, on the other hand, has launched an investigation into the matter to bring the perpetrators to book.

ESA