Soldiers allegedly beat up NPP's Regional Vice Chairman at a galamsey site in Bole

Yakubu Mahama, the Vice Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has allegedly been brutalized by some soldiers deployed to a galamsey area in Bole in the Savannah Region.

The soldiers were reportedly sent to protect Chinese nationals engaged in illegal mining activities in the area. A confrontation ensued when Yakubu Mahama allegedly requested to meet the leader of the team.

As the scuffle escalated, Yakubu Mahama’s brother contacted the NPP Secretary for Bole-Bamboi, who arrived at the Bole Police Station with a group of young men. This intervention reportedly worsened the situation.

In the ensuing chaos, the soldiers allegedly fired gunshots and assaulted Yakubu Mahama. The NPP Vice Regional Chairman suffered injuries from the encounter.

Relatedly, the Member of Parliament for Bole-Bamboi, Yusif Sulemana is blaming Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor over some clashes between the military and NPP Executives in the constitution over mining activities.

“The Ministry of Lands has apportioned the lands to over 7 miners asking them to go and prospect and the problem is that there were no proper stakeholder consultations.

“So the youth are there and they will see heavy equipment to take over what they are doing, that is where the clash is coming from. Interestingly, it is only the NPP executives who are given the juice places to do the galamsey work. That is what has been reflected.

“Today as I speak to you the Vice Chairman of the NPP in the Bole Bamboi constituency is hospitalized, and the secretary is also at the hospital because the military brutalized them last night. They brutalized them because we are told some Ministers have asked the military to protect the Chinese who are there doing whatever they call it,” the NDC MP stated.

According to reports military officers assigned to protect the large-scale miners in the Bole district have brutalized the NPP Vice Chairman and Secretary for Bole for their alleged involvement in illegal mining operations.

Speaking to the media in parliament the MP for the area accused the sector minister of failing to do proper stakeholder consultation before allocating lands to large-scale miners for prospecting, resulting in the clashes.

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