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Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwul has asked people engaged in illegal small-scale mining popularly known as galamsey not to dare the anti-galamsey taskforce deployed to fight the menace since the military and police officers in the unit have the backing of the state to crush any resistance.

Speaking at the launch of Operation Vanguard before the deployment of the 400 joint military and police taskforce on Monday, July 31, Mr Nitiwul said: “I know that men and women of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) are professionals, the men and women of the Police Service are professionals and they will do a professional job, but that is the reason why I will be straight to the people who are daring the taskforce not to do that because the country is behind the taskforce; don’t dare them, it will not be in their [illegal miners] interest to dare them”.

Mr Nitiwul bemoaned the devastation caused by galamsey saying about 5,000 excavators had been scattered all over the country engaging in the illegal act and destroying the environment.

“We are not against mining, in fact we encourage mining but we are against illegal mining. We encourage mining in a disciplined, sustained and productive manner,” he added.

The Akufo-Addo government has resolved to uproot galamsey which is destroying water bodies, forests, and crop farms. The crusade is being led by Lands and Natural Resources Minister John Peter Amewu who says the “government is not anti-mining at all but we are a government that believes that the current methodology that is applied in the process is wrong, cruel and wicked to human generations in this country”.