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Galamsey: We will match Nana Addo 'boot for boot' if... - Concerned drivers

The National Concerned Drivers Association has sounded a word of caution to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that they [Drivers] will match him "boot for boot" if their fellow drivers who were hired to drive trucks at galamsey sites are not released.

Galamsey

This follows the arrest and detention of their colleagues at the various illegal mining sites.

According to the concerned drivers, 'powerful people' with military protection behind galamsey in the country have gone unpunished.

They said their search has revealed that 32 of their colleagues who drove excavators were arrested by the Operation Vanguard team and are currently in police custody.

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In a statement, the drivers have threatened that if their colleagues are not released before March 6 2020, "then we have no option than to match the President boot for boot in Kumasi no matter the number of Delta Force" members unleashed at them, adding that nothing "will deter us; we say: "All die be die'" adding that they are ready to put their lives on the line to fight for the freedom of ordinary drivers.

In early 2017, the government placed a ban on all forms of small-scale mining in the country and lifted the embargo in December 2018 after almost two years.

The ban followed the devastating effects illegal mining was having on lives and the environment.

A team of the military and police dubbed "Operation Vanguard" was deployed to mining communities to help clamp down on the activities of the galamsey operators.

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An Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (ICIM) was also set up to help sanitize the small-scale mining sector.

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