I Was Nearly Lynched – Galamseyer Fighter Reveals

Head of Corporate Affairs at Minerals Commission of Ghana, Mr. Isaac Abraham, has revealed how he was chased out by some illegal miners in attempt to prevent them from mining at Manso-Nkwanta of the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region.

According to Mr. Abraham, his life could have been ended at the hands of the illegal miners if he had not ran away.

Mr. Abraham who disclosed this at the media training on responsible mining in Accra on Thursday December 21, 2017 called on journalists to continue to expose irresponsible extractive activities of both licensed and unlicensed miners in the country.

The forum which was organised by Wacam with the support of Care Ghana and DKA-Austria was under the theme, “Applying Community Voices for Responsible Mining; The Role of the Media.”

Mr. Abraham denied the assertion that, the Commission was not helping the government to halt the activities of Chinese and Ghanaians who are engaged in the activities of illegal small scale mining.

He revealed that the Commission spends about 80% of its annual revenue in clamping down “these illegal mining activities”.

He also bemoaned the practice where land owners and farmers give out their farm lands to illegal gold miners for cash.

That development, he asserted, had come about because indigenes in these communities were gradually losing interest in farming as they see returns on mining activities as more attractive and far-rewarding.

For his part, Associate Executive Director of Wacam, Mrs. Hannah Owusu-Koranteng noted that Wacam’s partnership with the media had contributed to the success of Wacam mining advocacy, and indicated her outfit’s commitment and readiness to increase the sensitization of the media on issues of responsible mining and the environment.

According to her, the wanton destruction of the water bodies, forest reserves, arable farm lands and environment by the activities of the small scale miners was part of the mining crisis facing the nation.