Government has directed the withdrawal of security officials from all mining concessions across the country by Saturday, November 30, JOY News has learnt.

It is not clear why the action has been taken. Soldiers and other security officers are guarding the mining concessions as part of government’s efforts to deal with the activities of galamsey operators and foreigners, who are illegally engaged in small scale mining in parts of the country.

JOY NEWS sources say the directive has been communicated to the security officers and barring any last minute change in plan, they will leave the concessions by Saturday.

Joy News' Kwaku Owusu-Peprah, who is in Bogoso in the Western Region, one of the country’s well known mining community reported that most of the security capos across the country are not happy with the directive as they believed that it was the only sure way of ending the menace of galamsey.

According to them, the first phase of preventing galamsey operations begun with the flashing out of illegal foreign small scale miners with the second phase, which is currently underway, meant to flash out indegenous Ghanaians, who were also in Bogoso, Chirano, Obuasi, Tarkwa and its environs.

However,  with the current directive, the security officials feel that they have been shot in in the foot as their efforts to curb galamsey was going to be ridiculed by these galamsey operators, whom they fought and pushed out from these mining concessions.

It is therefore the considered view of the security officials for Government to stand firm and ensure that galamsey is nipped in the bud.

JOY News sources have fingered political pressure from the operators, who feel their sources of livelihood is being taken away from them so they believe that if they use the District Chief Executives (DCE's), Members of Parliament (MPs), Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs) and other power brokers in government, they could bring government onto its knees and ensure that the troops are withdrawn.

The directive, Joy News learnt has been disseminated to the security personnel involved.

Kweku Owusu Peprah reported that major players in the illegal small scale mining business and the entire communities do not have knowledge of the directives suspecting when they get to know about it there would be a mad rush for the concessions legally owned by Aglogold, Golden Star, Newmont because there will be no security officers to scare them away.