KEY POINTS
- A leadership dispute led to a violent small-scale mining clash.
- Miners accused each other of extortion and mismanagement.
- Police restored order and launched an investigation into the violence.
Two people were hurt in a violent altercation between two opposing groups of small-scale miners outside the Akrokerri Police Station in Adansi North. A leadership conflict over local mining operations sparked the altercation.
Leadership dispute sparks violent small-scale mining clash
Christian Twumasi, also called Akwala, was accused by Nana Osei Yaw, the owner of a mining site, of mishandling laws pertaining to small-scale mining. He said that extortion, disputes, and a lack of openness had plagued Akwala’s leadership. After the government changed, Yaw and his followers stopped acknowledging Akwala’s legitimacy.
According to Yaw, as Akwala organized his men to attack him and his gang, tensions increased. He claimed that as they tried to take cover at the police station, the opposing group came after them, resulting in a violent altercation that injured two persons.
Akwala, however, refuted the accusations, stating that he and his gang were at their mining location when Yaw’s party, headed by a man by the name of Kapaala, showed up without warning. He claimed that Kapaala’s men had threatened to shoot their driver if he attempted to flee and had attempted to seize equipment. Akwala asserted that this led to a furious dispute outside the police station that eventually descended into violence.
Police intervene as chaos erupts near Akrokerri station
According to Joynews, police were called after locals reported seeing mayhem as the two groups clashed. Eventually, officers brought the situation under control and stopped it from getting worse. Since then, authorities have started looking into the incident to find out what caused the violence and hold those involved accountable.
The conflict brings to light persistent problems in Ghana’s small-scale mining industry, where conflicts over leadership and legal issues frequently result in violent altercations.
