The Assembly Member for the Apremede-Oseikrom Electoral Area, Mannah Mustapha, has stated that the landowner had earlier asked illegal miners to vacate the site before the tragic pit collapse that claimed nine lives.

Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem, Mustapha explained that the landowner had warned the youth against engaging in illegal mining activities on the land.

“When the incident happened, the landowner informed me that he had already sacked everyone from the site. We all know that even the President has said no to galamsey and does not accept it. So we cannot say we were aware and encouraged the youth to engage in galamsey. They did that on their own,” Mustapha said.

According to him, the illegal mining activities had only started recently and were mostly carried out at night.

“It has not been long since they started. They were doing it at night. The landowner asked them to stop just a few days before the incident, but they did not listen,” he stated.

Mustapha further revealed that the landowner had requested security to protect the land after discovering the illegal activities.

“Per what the landowner told me, he asked his people to arrange security to protect the place,” he said.

He added that officers from the Kenyasi Police Station had visited the site about a week before the collapse after receiving reports of ongoing galamsey activities.

“The police came there to take pictures of the place when they heard about the illegal mining. That was even before the unfortunate incident happened,” he explained.

Mustapha said community leaders were attempting to stop the youth from continuing the activity and had gathered evidence for the police.

“We were all trying to stop them. The police only took pictures as evidence. It was about three to four days after the galamsey started that the unfortunate incident happened,” he added.

His comments follow the tragic collapse of a galamsey pit at Atta ne Atta in the Asutifi South District of the Ahafo Region, where nine young men lost their lives. Four others are currently in critical condition and receiving treatment at the St. Elizabeth Hospital in Hwidiem.

The incident occurred late Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday at a site believed to have been newly excavated.