Ernest Frimpong, the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary candidate for Amenfi East, has accused illegal miners in the area of beating up soldiers who try to stop them from mining.
Ernest Frimpong addressed the miners in front of Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister, and a few local party executives. He disclosed that the government had dissolved the anti-galamsey task teams, so no soldier was allowed to prevent anyone from mining.
“Operation halt, galamstop, whatever, whatever, soldiers that ambush you, we have canceled all those operations and officially they do no have permission to run such operations again. So, if anyone comes to your site, you have the right to question him on his mission there,” he told the miners in the Twi language.
“If he says he is on patrol, then that is good because the patrol by the police and the security services protects you and reduces the incidents of robbery. So if from your own will you part ways with 3million, 5 million or 10 million for him to use for fuel, you are just helping him and I won’t speak against it.”, he added.
But if anyone comes around and says because if he is a soldier, leave the site and dismantle your machines, don’t be moved by the uniform he is wearing, if he beats you, equally beat him. Fight him, I will come to your defense.”, he charged the miners to a rousing applause
Justifying his charge, the Parliamentary Candidate insisted so long as there was no anti-galamsey operation, any action of the soldiers was illegal and could not be used to stop the illegal mining of the people he addressed.