Editor of the Newscenta Newspaper, Elvis Darko, has alleged that a significant number of security personnel deployed to combat illegal mining are on the payroll of galamsey operators.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Monday, August 31, Darko claimed that the alleged financial relationship between illegal miners and security personnel is weakening enforcement efforts and allowing galamsey to spread.
He said a contact within the security services recently informed him that when a new security head is posted to a galamsey-prone area, the person is allegedly shown a list of colleagues who are already receiving payments from illegal miners.
According to Darko, the new officer is then allegedly told to either accept payment or risk fighting illegal miners while other officials continue to benefit from the practice.
Darko further argued that illegal mining has expanded into communities that previously had little or no galamsey, describing the development as evidence that the menace is worsening.
“A friend of mine who is in the security services sent me a small information over the last week. He said this is what the galamseyers do: You change the security head, and whatever you do, the new person that comes, they go to them and show the person the list, saying, ‘These are all your colleagues too; they are all on our payroll. This is just the local level.’
“And then the people who are in Accra, who are the big people who are also on the payroll, they show it to you. And they say, ‘You either accept the money we give you, or if you say you will fight us, the people in Accra will be taking the money and we will be walking free. So, it’s better you take the money,”he said.
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