Manso Bonteso Women Stage Protest Over Galamsey Arrests: "Our Children Don't Have Jobs"
- Some women in Manso Bonteso have protested the arrest of their assembly member and three others for their alleged involvement in galamsey
- The protest follows a clash between illegal miners, led by Patrick Asare, and the police task force combating galamsey activities
- The women argued that the arrests are unfair given the high unemployment rates in the area
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A group of women from Manso Bonteso in the Ashanti Region has taken to the streets to protest the arrest of their local assembly member and three others for their alleged involvement in illegal mining, also known as galamsey.
The police arrested the assembly member, Patrick Asare, and two others: Osei Vasco and Akwesi Amponsah for obsructing their work and inciting violence against them.
Source: Getty Images
This occurred after the assembly member reportedly led a group of illegal miners to attack the Inspector General of Police (IGP)'s special task force tasked with combating illegal mining.
The incident took place after the police task force seized an excavator from an illegal mining site near Manso Nkwanta.
According to a report, Patrick Asare and the illegal miners pelted stones at the police in an attempt to prevent them from seizing the excavator.
As a result of the clash, the leader of the IGP's special anti-galamsey task force, ASP Bawah Abdul Jalil, and G/Sgt. Agblekpe Mawuena Yao sustained injuries.
To disperse the charged crowd, the police team reportedly fired several warning shots and later apprehended the assembly member and the two others.
However, in reaction to this, the women claimed that the arrests were unfair, given the high levels of unemployment in the area.
In a video circulating on social media, the women were seen demonstrating to register their displeasure with the arrest.
"Our children don’t have any job to do. This is all they have, and you’re collapsing galamsey?" they were heard angrily saying.
Watch the video of the women below:
Anti-galamsey taskforce destroy 10 Changfans
In a related development, the Operation Halt, the government’s anti-galamsey taskforce turned its attention to the Pra River in the Central Region.
In their incursion on galamsey sites on the river and in its environs, the task force seized and destroyed 10 Changfans, a pistol and eight water-pumping machines abandoned on the Pra River.
Source: UGC
The task force had earlier destroyed 30 pieces of mining equipment on the Birim River in the Eastern Region during the first day of the operation.
No arrests were made as the illegal miners fled the scene before the arrival of the task force.
Anti-galamsey protesters discharged
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported earlier that Seven Democracy Hub protesters who were arraigned before the Accra High Court on October 22, 2024, were discharged.
The Accra High Court discharged the protesters after the state prosecution, led by Amanda Awadi, informed the presiding judge that the Republic had decided to drop the charges against them.
The seven protesters were part of a group of nine protesters who had been brought before the court that day.
Source: YEN.com.gh
