The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, has disclosed that illegal miners (galamseyers) are withdrawing from their mining sites, saying about 75 excavators used in mining have been retrieved.

“We have seen a huge number of withdrawals from some of the illegal miners. In the Western Region, about 75 excavators have so far been captured, and these things have been going on all over the country,” he told Accra-based Citi FM.

He added: “We are still sending signals to people that it is not right, and they need to mine in a more sustainable way for the environment and that is what we have been doing so far.”

Vote threat bluff

Mr Awewu’s deputy, Owusu Bio, has called the bluff of galamseyers who have threatened to vote out the Akufo-Addo government if it is bent on ending galamsey.

Responding to the threat, Bio said: “If collapsing galamsey will make you vote us out of power,that is fine. We know there are well-meaning Ghanaians who will support us in this cause because we are doing this to save our future generations.”

“In 10 years time, we are likely to lose our water bodies due to your activities, so I want to state that the NPP government will not relent on its fight to stop Galamsey now. If because of that you will vote us out of power in 2020, so be it.”