Minister of Defense Dominic Nitiwul has urged the public to ignore what he says is a propaganda campaign targeted at undermining the work of the anti galamsey taskforce, Operation Vanguard.
Speculations were riffed on social media after pictures started circulating of bodies of suspected illegal miners allegedly murdered by some members of the taskforce at Atiwa West District in the Eastern Region.
The four were said to be moving their excavator from a mining site when the taskforce accosted them. A confrontation was said to have ensued and they were killed in the process. Their bodies were subsequently thrown into a pit filled with water.
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But speaking to Accra’s based Asempa Fm, Mr Nitiwul said members of the taskforce are not connected with the incident, so it will be unfortunate for anyone to accuse them of being behind the murder.
However, he said the operations of the taskforce have been embraced by chiefs and members of the communities where they are stationed and are receiving support for their work. “The corporation they have given to us is very positive,†he said.
He said the taskforce is yet to begin night operations though it is one of their plans. This is because intelligence received indicate most of the illegal miners work in the middle of the night to outwit to avoid detection. The minister is confident once they begin operations in the night, anyone who violates orders would be apprehended and punished.
According to Mr. Nitiwul, the fight against galamsey is something that should be sustained because of the gains being recorded at the moment. He said the Ghana Water Company, which for years had struggled to treat water from some of the mining areas, are beginning to see improvements in the water they hope to treat and dispense to the consuming public.