Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, has threatened to file a defamation suit against host of Atinka TV Morning Show, "Ghana Nie", Bismark Brown, for merely airing a video, which which captures illegal miners in Ntotokrom in the Amansie west district alleging that he (regional minister) is aware of their activities."
Fuming with rage, the Regional Minister called into the Show Wednesday to threaten a lawsuit against Bismark Brown popularly known in media Circles as BB for showing the video without his consent.
The video also captures illegal miners (galamseyers) busily plying their trade in broad daylight at Manso Ntonto of the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region even though the ban on the illegal activity is still in force.
One Iddrisu, a leader of a galamsey group, described how the Minister, local chiefs, DCEs, police chiefs have all been compromised in the fight against galamsey.
He added that they (the galamsey operators) offers “tips” to some officers of the Operation Vanguard Team, which has been tasked to fight illegal mining.
Surprisingly, the Ntonto mining site is not in the deep forest as one may think; the site is full of excavators while other earth-moving machines have been parked on the shoulders of the main road.
Below is a full video:
Video credit: Salis Newspaper
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Paul Norsah