Nashidu Ayoka lost four fingers and had parts of his body severely burnt in an explosion at the site
Some angry residents of the Upper East Region have descended heavily on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ghana Police Service following recent deaths of some illegal miners in Talensi, a district in the region.
The residents say fifteen people have been killed so far at the site and their bodies have been secretly buried so that the ongoing illegal mining activities would not come to light.
“As a regulatory body mandated to protect the environment according to the EPA Act 490 (1994), the EPA is supposed to be proactive in preventing galamseyers (illegal miners) from causing harm to the environment.
“What is happening in Talensi right now is clear evidence in our opinions that the current administration at the EPA’s national headquarters in Accra is not living up to expectations on the anti-galamsey fight,” fumed Moses Nabzor.
He added: “This is one of the reasons the international community will not take Ghana seriously on Climate Change issues. Environmental degradation or pollution has a lot to do with Climate Change. But illegal mining is going on in Talensi under the watch of the EPA. They (the illegal miners) are currently there mining without permit.”
The 25-acre site is located at Gban, east of Talensi. The site was legally acquired by Zongdan Boyak Kolog, a young small-scale miner better known as Polo, in 2013 and named Nanlamtaaba Enterprise.
An aerial view of the mining area of Gban, Talensi District.
Kolog is said to have reported the illegal miners’ activities to the Upper East Regional Police Command several times but the command failed to act, resulting in deaths of unregulated miners and serious injuries to the trespassers at the site.
He also notified the police about some of the deaths, but the police, again, reportedly did not act.
There is evidence that his lawyers also wrote to the regional police command a petition dated June 26, 2023, citing new names of people who had joined the other illegal miners at the site to mine without licence and permit. That petition did not yield any results.
The Upper East Regional Police Headquarters
The fifteen people who have died so far were killed mostly through explosion and electrocution within the last four months. The residents say the bodies of the illegal miners killed so far were buried in some communities in the Bongo District and three communities in Talensi— Datoko, Kolpeliga and Yale.
The latest tragedy struck in the last week of September, 2023, when a young man, Godwin Buing, was apparently electrocuted and buried secretly at Kolpeliga.
Godwin Buing, one of the recent casualties at the site.
“The people behind the illegal mining activities often take the bodies secretly to the families and put fear in the families by saying if the families report, the police will come and arrest them for encouraging their relations to do galamsey (illegal mining).
“So, the families, for fear of arrests, would quickly bury the bodies. Two chiefs in Talensi are involved in these illegal mining activities. One notorious criminal, who is always seen in videos wielding guns and shooting guns in public with police bodyguards around him, and his notorious criminal brother are involved, too,” another resident, Paul Yin-mmi, seethed.
When Media Without Borders contacted the Upper East Regional Police Command on Thursday, 5 October 2023, on the allegations made by the residents, its public relations officer, DSP David Fianko-Okyere only said he would “inform the regional commander about it”.
The only response received so far from the police is what the public relations officer said.
The regional police command has not said anything further on the allegations since Thursday to date (Sunday).
Residents have hinted at plans to stage a demonstration in the streets against the EPA, the Minerals Commission and the police on the reported illegal mining activities at the site.
An injured illegal miner being attended to on an emergency ward of the Upper East Regional Hospital after he was rescued at the site.
The illegal miners work day and night at the site. The video has the voice of the source but the parts bearing the voice have been muted in this publication to protect the source’s identity.
