The youth of Sefwi Akontombra, a community in the Western Region plagued with illegal mining have taken matters into their hands in the bid to bring an end to the illegal mining menace (galasmey).
The youth who refuse to sit back and watch their water bodies being destroyed and forests being degraded stormed illegal mining sites in their community to fight the menace at its roots.
In a video which has since gone viral, the community youth calmly asked the illegal miners to pack up shop and leave the site. “You’re a Ghanaian and we have no qualms with you, all we want you to do now is get your things out of here. We need you to pack all you equipment from here this very moment. Why do you destroy our town like this, this is cruel. They should leave this very moment,” one youth, possibly the leader of the delegation is heard telling the galamseyers.
Some of the galamseyers tried to scare away the young men by bringing out pump action guns. The young men however stayed their path, refusing to back down. More galamseyers came to join their colleagues with pump action guns trying to scare the youth away but eventually, the young men overpowered them, seized the guns from them (galamseyers).
Sensing defeat, the galamseyers began begging the young men for mercy.
The Sefwi Akontombra youth still resolute to their mission reiterated, “Remove all your excavators and other equipment from this place now.”
Youths in Safwi stormed an illegal mining site (Galamsey site), demanding an immediate halt to operations 🇬🇭 pic.twitter.com/gDTNdHLs09
— 𝕏 Ghana 🇬🇭 (@xghana_) September 17, 2024