Galamsey fight is 'war' – Ken Ashigbey

Even though it appears the anti-galamsey fight has chalked some successes, “we should all know that this is not a battle that we are going to win immediately, it’s a war, so, there are a few of the battles that we are winning but there are greater ones that are out there,” Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group, Mr Ken Ashigbey has said.

As of Wednesday, 19 April, the end of the 21-day ultimatum given by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources for the galamseyers to stop operating, 544 excavators and other earth-moving equipment had been withdrawn from illegal mining sites across the country.

Mr Ashigbey, who is leading a media coalition to give impetus to the war declared on illegal small-scale mining by the Akufo-Addo government, told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Thursday, 20 April that although the media support has been “unprecedented”, the gains made are just the beginning.

Since the campaign, several Chinese galamseyers have been arrested together with their Ghanaian counterparts.

The media reportage on the campaign vis-à-vis the Chinese, got the China mission in Ghana angry to the extent that it issued a statement urging the Ghanaian government to rein in the media.

This got the Ghanaian media and local stakeholders firing back saying China cannot dictate to the West African country what to do with its media.