Obuasi: Galamsey operators on rampage

Some illegal miners in Obuasi on Wednesday morning took to the streets to protest a quit order handed them by the Minerals Commission for them to stop gold mining in the main operating area within the concession of Anglogold Ashanti (AGA).

The protesters vandalised the offices of some political parties including that of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) amidst chants of “no galamsey, no votes”.

Amidst chanting, the demonstrators moved to Tutuka in Obuasi where they vandalised the NDC office, then to NPP office near the Len Clay Stadium. They destroyed windows, TV decoders, billboards, plastic chairs and other properties they could lay hands on.

According to the demonstrators their action was a sign that they were not ready to move out of the AGA main operating area to a new place which had been offered them.

Per the quit order, the miners were to vacate the concession immediately or be forced out and that in collaboration with the Movement Committee, modalities had been fashioned out to relocate them.

Graphic Online's reporter, Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor explained that the demonstrators claimed that the new areas offered them did not have enough gold deposits.

AGA has over the years had problems with the galamsey operators who have been encroaching on the concession of the company.

Below are some photos from the incident scene in Obuasi