President Akufo-Addo has directed the Ghana Armed Forced to commence an operation to remove all persons and logistics involved in illegal mining on the country’s water bodies.

In a statement signed by the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, Wednesday, he said 200 officers in the military were deployed in the early hours of Wednesday on River Pra in the Western and Central regions to halt operations of illegal minners.

According to Mr Nkrumah, the President’s directive is pursuant to the resolutions of the final communique of the Stakeholder Dialogue on Small Scale Mining held on April 14.

He added that the operation is to “ensure that mining within water bodies are immediately stopped.”

The statement further indicated that Defence Ministry together with the Ghana Armed forces will provide a detailed brief of developments and sustainability efforts on Friday.