Youth in Dormaa Ahenkro in the Bono Region have arrested more than 10 persons engaged in illegal mining popularly known as galamsey in the town.

This action was supported by Dormaahene Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Dr. Agyemang Badu, who has strongly condemned illegal mining and assured that he will not tolerate the activity in his community.

According to a video shared on social media, the arrested persons are said to hail from the northern part of the country including Bawku.

Their mining equipment was seized and the suspects were subsequently handed over to the police.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo’s latest directive on galamsey saw 18 changfans, 10 pumping machines, excavator being burnt by a military taskforce assigned to crack down the illegal mining menace.

On Thursday, Otober 10, 2024, the first day of the operation, dubbed “Operation Halt,” the soldiers burnt several mining equipment, including 18 chanfans, 10 industrial water pumping machines, and one excavator used for illegal mining on the River Birim in the Atiwa East and West Districts of the Eastern region.

The action, which began early Thursday on October 10, 2024, primarily focused on illegal mining in water bodies and protected areas, locations that have long been affected by the pollution, deforestation, and farmland destruction caused by galamsey.

This latest effort is part of a broader national campaign to address the environmental damage associated with illegal mining, which has heavily polluted rivers and degraded agricultural lands across Ghana.

The government’s military intervention comes in response to increasing public pressure from environmental organizations, civil society groups, and concerned citizens, all of whom have called for stricter measures to end galamsey activities.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been at the forefront of the renewed push to combat illegal mining.

He recently ordered the intensification of “Operation Halt,” directing additional military personnel to be deployed to known illegal mining hotspots.

I will be ungrateful if I don’t tout NPP’s achievement in Bono Region. Dormaahene, Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu

The paramount chief of the Dormaa Traditional Area in the Bono Region, Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu, has sang the praises of the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government for the developmental projects done in the Dormaa area and Bono Region at large.

In a video shared on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the Chief, while addressing a durbar during a visit by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Flagbearer Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, said the developmental projects in the area are littered around the area and are visible for all to see.

To this end, the traditional ruler, who is also a sitting High Court judge, said he cannot turn a blind eye to the many projects and commended the government for the work so far.

“I will be a hypocrite to say there has been no development in the Dormaa area under the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government. One may ask, What has the government done for us? If you can’t point to any developmental project, at least there are asphalted roads all over Dormaa; even the road leading to the palace has been asphalted.”

He added, “That is not all. You all know about One-District-One Factory; there’s one factory at Dormaa East; it has not been completed, but I know it will surely be done. There’s another one at Dormaa West. I can also talk about a multi-purpose sports complex that has been built even though it is not completed as we speak. I believe you will continue it in due course, so it will be beneficial to my people.”

Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu further commended the government for the work done so far in the health sector.

“Talking about Agenda 111, some of us were doubting Thomases when the government announced the initiative, as we believed the government could not build such a huge number of hospitals. But information on social media suggests a lot is almost done. We in Dormaa have our fair share of the hospital project.”

Dec. 7 Elections: NDC counting on Facebook and X; but NPP will beat them – Miracles Aboagye

Dennis Miracles Aboagye, Director of Communication for the Bawumia Campaign has said the National Democratic Congress(NDC) is vigorously campaigning on Facebook and X to aid its victory in the December 7 general elections, but the governing New Patriotic Party will win the elections.

According to him, the main job to win an election is done on the ground and not on social media platforms.

Speaking on Asempa FM monitored by GhanaWeb, Miracles Aboagye emphasised that one cannot use social media to gauge the mood of the country as it cannot give an accurate picture of which party will win an election.

“We don’t vote on Twitter, Twitter and Facebook will deceive you. We don’t have Twitter at the polling station. You cannot use Twitter to gauge the mood of the nation. Whenever I tweet, I tweet for the NPP, are you going to follow my posts? Twitter is full people with agenda. We lost Greater Accra but we won the election in 2020. We’ve gone for a tour in Greater Accra region and we are going to win by a bigger margin than we did in 2016. I am telling you. The NDC is campaigning on social media, but the game is on the ground.

“Didn’t you hear what the women said when Adom TV went to Makola? When we walked through Tudu on Saturday, didn’t you see the women, are they not in Greater Accra? We don’t vote on Twitter. One person can have about 5 accounts on Twitter and will be tweeting all over the place and be giving comments later. If you do analysis with this, you’ll be deceiving yourself. If NDC will be using Twitter as basis for their analysis then they have lost the elections abysmally,” he stated.

The former Municipal Chief Executive for Akuapem North added further criticized the NDC insisting that the party has failed to convince Ghanaians why they should be voted for.

“NDC is counting on Twitter and Facebook but we don’t vote with that. We are going to beat the NDC in the Parliamentary and Presidential elections. You know why, they are incompetent in government, and the people were hoping that as an opposition they will do better. But even in opposition, they are incompetent. They are not giving the people a reason to vote for them, they are just saying NPP has been in power for 8 years, so vote for Mahama” Miracles Aboagye added.

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