Eleven Chinese nationals and ten Ghanaians have been arrested by the Forestry Commission over illegal mining activities in the Yakombo Forest Reserve in the Buipe Forest District of the Savannah Region.
Reports reveal, the 21 arrested follow an intelligence-driven raid which occurred on Tuesday, December 2, by a 51-member team made up of forest guards.
The suspects were arrested in Ghana’s largest forest reserve.
The suspects arrested are namely:” Tang Shao Qi (28), He Peng (40), Zhou Qin Sar (25), Wu Xu (39), He Chuang Ye (45), Cheng Lin (40), Long Xi (32), Yang Gesheng (51), Zhang Hongzhaojie (34), Zhou Peng (39), and Wu Yujie (24).
The Ghanaians suspect are Alhassan Yakubu, Daniel Mba (33), Pious Kwabena (20), Emmanuel Amankra (40), Seidu Suleman (44), Sampson Akawuni (22), Thadeus Gideon (27), Mohammed Salim (21), Mohammed Kanamu (25), and Saaka Yakubu (22)”.
The Forestry Commission operation also led to the seizure of one Toyota Hilux, two Great Wall pick-up trucks, three Howo tipper trucks, and one Man Diesel low-bed truck carrying an excavator.
The 21 suspects have since been transferred to the Damongo Regional Police Command for investigations and possible prosecution.
Still on galamsey, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has said the John Mahama-led NDC government, through the purchase of gold from small-scale miners, is supporting galamsey activities.
Afenyo-Markin accused the John Mahama-led government of surrendering to galamsey activities and being an enabler of galamsey through Goldbod.
Speaking in parliament to deliver his concluding remark to end the debate on the 2026 budget, Afenyo-Markin stated, “This government has surrendered to galamsey activities. This government has become its enabler”.
“In this budget, the government announced that the Gold Board will buy gold from small-scale miners. They are not fighting illegal mining. Instead, the NDC government is financing it. This gives it official endorsement,” he stated.
He further lamented, “Today, members of NAIMOS are getting hurt, shot at, and even killed while fighting a battle their own government has abandoned. Eight lives were lost on their way to launch a programme to fight illegal mining”.
“Today, their own government is showing neither seriousness nor commitment to stop illegal mining. They have created a Gold Board to buy gold they cannot trace and from miners they cannot verify, a system built for complicity, not enforcement. If the government cannot trace the gold, it should not buy it,” he added.
