The Obuasi Township was yesterday thrown into a state of disorderliness when illegal miners, otherwise known as Galamsey operators, detected that a concession they have been working on has been taken over by some military personnel.

Dissatisfied with the turn of events, the Galamsey operators stormed the principal streets of Obuasi, destroying bill boards and posters belonging to political parties, such as the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Peoples National Convention (PNC).

The irate illegal miners did not end there, as they marched to the Obuasi Municipal Assembly to vent their spleen on the authorities, but the military personnel, once again, moved in, drove them away and restored peace and tranquility in the ancient mining community.

The action of the military personnel followed a report to the military high command by a 17-member committee, led by Ing Kwaku Frimpong  Kumah, who was charged by the Minerals Commission to find a suitable place for the illegal miners and relocate them from the Kobor concession, which originally belonged to Anglogold Ashanti (AGA).

The Chronicle gathered that the Kobor concession was given to the illegal miners to work on, but they have completed their work, and are expected to vacate the site, but they have not, hence the decision of the committee to direct the military to take over the concession, because the miners failed to adhere to their last warning.

The paper further gathered that there is heavy military presence in the Obuasi Township. Sometime in March, this year, the AGA surrendered 60% of its concession; totaling 273 square kilometers to the Minerals Commission, which was expected to be shared to the illegal miners in groups after their data have been captured.

An illegal miner, who gave his name simply as Ibrahim, bemoaned the actions of the military personnel, saying the Kobor enclave is defunct, that is why they are making a living out of the place.

He admitted to The Chronicle that the military came to their site and ordered them to leave the site.

Meanwhile, the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Richard Boadi Akwasi Agyemang is unhappy about how he was sidelined with regards to the fact that he was not informed about the findings of the committee, which has led to the evacuation of the Galamsey operators.

Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, the Obuasi Divisional Police Commander, ACP Afful Yiadom, confirmed that indeed there was a misunderstanding, which has been resolved.

He noted that there has been redeployment of Rio Control Police to keep agitators at bay.

The Public Relations Officer of the Minerals Commission, Mr. Isaac Abraham revealed to this paper that the demarcation work is far advance and the committee had partitioned over 100 plots, which will be given to the miners.

Mr. Abraham noted that their district officers are taking the data of these miners to facilitate their relocation program.