Ghanaian authorities said Saturday they were investigating “a suspected pirate attack” on a Ghanaian-registered fishing vessel that left three Chinese crew members missing.

Ghana’s armed forces in a statement said that on Thursday evening, “reports indicated that seven armed individuals boarded the vessel and fired warning shots, prompting several crew members to seek cover in a safe area.”

The armed forces said the “pirates” stayed on board for about three hours after assembling everyone on deck and confiscating their phones. After the armed individuals left the ship, the crew discovered the missing members.

It said the MENGXIN 1 vessel was now docked.

Piracy is not uncommon in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa.

Over the years, the Chinese have flown Ghanaian flags on their vessels to fish in Ghanaian waters, according to watchdogs.

China’s foreign ministry told reporters that all crew members were safe.

“China will continue to work with Ghana to effectively safeguard the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in Ghana,” ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

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The gold and money were hidden under the seats of the vehicle they were travelling in, according to Jean Jacques Purusi, the governor of South Kivu province.

He said the operation to arrest the men had been kept secret after the recent release of another group of Chinese nationals accused of running an illegal gold mine in the area.

Eastern DR Congo has abundant reserves of gold, diamonds, and minerals that are used to make batteries for mobile phones and electric vehicles.

Foreign groups have plundered this mineral wealth since the colonial era, which is one of the main reasons the region has been plagued by instability for the last 30 years.

Militia groups control many of the mines in eastern DR Congo and their leaders become wealthy by selling it to middlemen.

Purusi said some of these dealers in precious metals enjoyed good relations with influential people in the capital, Kinshasa, and this was why the mission to carry out these latest arrests had to be kept quiet.

He said they had been acting on a tip-off and that the gold and money were only found after a meticulous search of the vehicle in the Walungu area not far from the border with Rwanda.

He did not say exactly how much gold had been seized.

Last month, the governor told reporters he was shocked to hear that 17 Chinese nationals, who had been arrested on allegations they had been running an illegal gold mine, had been freed and allowed to return to China.

He said this undermined efforts to clean up DR Congo’s notoriously murky mineral sector.

They owed $10m in taxes and fines to the government, the Reuters news agency quotes him as saying.

The Chinese embassy has not commented on the allegations.

The arrests come as fighting continues to flare in the neighbouring North Kivu province, where a Rwanda-backed rebel group has captured large areas of territory.

Last month, DR Congo said it was suing Apple over the use of “blood minerals”, prompting the tech giant to say it had stopped getting supplies from both DR Congo and neighbouring Rwanda.

Rwanda has denied being a conduit for the export of illegal minerals from DR Congo.

In their lawsuit, lawyers acting for the Congolese government alleged that the minerals taken from conflict areas was then “laundered through international supply chains”.

“These activities have fuelled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and have contributed to forced child labour and environmental devastation,” they said.

The incident occurred in a remote mining area, where the operator demanded payment for his services, which he claimed had been overdue for weeks.

In a video circulatiing on social media the confrontation escalated when the employer refused to address the complaints, resulting in a physical altercation.

A passerby intervened to separate the two parties, with the Chinese employer sustaining minor injuries.

Watch the video below:

Excavator operator beàts his Chinese employer at a galamsey site over failure to settle the labour fee. pic.twitter.com/7VxRURUFgL

— EDHUB (@eddie_wrt) November 24, 2024

Source: Adomonline

The illegal miners have succeeded in destroying over 50 acres of the 120-acre concession belonging to the company, with the aid of excavators and other earth-moving equipment.

They claimed to be working for one Ernest who is at large.

The arrest of the armed miners follows days and nights of surveillance and ambush laying by the security personnel of Zoar Mining Enterprise.

The suspects were arrested at about 1 a.m. on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, and handed over to the Ministries Police in Accra on the instructions of officials of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, on November 15, 2023, granted a 5-year mining lease, subject to renewal, to the company to mine gold and diamond.

But before the company started operations, the illegal miners had invaded the concession with over 40 of them undertaking brisk business.

Nana Akwasi Yentumi Asante, Operations and Sustainability Manager of Zoar Mining Enterprise, tells Joynews the exercise was staged smoothly..

“The arrest was done by our company’s security unit and was calm, well-coordinated, and without any blood flow. We started the ambush at around 1 a.m. today.” he said.

He said Zoar Mining has “lost millions of Ghana cedis” to the illegal mining activities.

“If we were to do our own business, production in the worst-case scenario is between 4kg and 15kg of gold per concession of such nature,” he said.

Appalled by the development, Nana Asante warned the company will do everything possible to protect its concessions, which can rake in more funds into government coffers in taxes.

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The six suspects were nabbed by an Anti-Galamseyers Watchdog in some cocoa farms near the community.

The Public Relations Officer of the Anti-Galamseyers Watchdog, Ali Morro, told Adom News they have placed a surveillance on galamsey hotspots in the districts.

He added that they received intelligence on the illegal activities and embarked on a community to community initiative to fish out the suspects.

The perpetrators were nabbed while undertaking their mining activities.

Also, Mr Morro delivered a strong warning to those who have planned or planning to engage in galamseyer in their area to desist because the youth are ready to fight them squarely.

Currently, the two Chinese together with the four Ghanaians have been handed over to the Aowin Municipal Police Command for further investigation and prosecution.

House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is understood to have refused a request for access to Westminster Hall over Chinese sanctions against five MPs and two peers.

Queen Elizabeth will lie in state until her funeral on Monday.

The Speaker’s office told the BBC it did not comment on security matters.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said they had not seen a reports about the ban, which first emerged on the Politico website.

“As a host, the UK is certainly familiar with diplomatic protocols and proper manners of receiving guests,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said.

Last year, China imposed travel bans and asset freezes on nine Britons – including seven parliamentarians – for accusing Beijing of mistreating Uighur Muslims.

That led to China’s ambassador to the UK being banned from Parliament – a move which has now been extended to a delegation that wanted to pay their respects at Queen Elizabeth’s lying-in-state.

UK-China relations are already strained and this ban is unlikely to help.

However, China’s vice-president is expected to attend Monday’s state funeral which will be held across the road from Parliament at Westminster Abbey.

According to the parliamentary rule book Erskine May, in 1965 Queen Elizabeth II consented that control of Westminster Hall would be shared between the Lord Great Chamberlain – who is appointed by the monarch – and the speakers of both the Commons and the Lords.

There is no specific mention regarding control of access for an occasion such as a lying-in-state, but when it comes to “invitations to foreign dignitaries to address both Houses in Westminster Hall” these are “ordinarily” issued by the agreement of all three.

Last September, Sir Lindsay and Lord’s Speaker Lord McFall told China’s ambassador to the UK he could not come to Parliament because of Beijing’s sanctions.

At the time that ban was criticised by the Chinese government as “despicable and cowardly”.

On Thursday, the group of seven MPs and peers, including former Tory ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Tim Loughton, urged the Foreign Secretary to withdraw an invitation to President Xi of China to attend the Queen’s funeral.

In a letter, they said it would be “wholly inappropriate” for the Chinese government to be represented, given its human rights record.

Several Western countries have imposed sanctions on officials in China following rights abuse allegations against the mostly Muslim Uighur minority group.

China has detained Uighurs at camps in the north-west region of Xinjiang, where allegations of torture, forced labour and sexual abuse have emerged.

It has denied the allegations of abuse, claiming the camps are “re-education” facilities used to combat terrorism.

China’s President Xi Jinping is on the guest list for the state funeral but is not thought likely to attend.

British officials expect the country will instead be represented by Vice President Wang Qishan.

A Downing Street spokesman said it was a convention that countries with which the UK has diplomatic relations should be invited to state funerals.

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This is according to data compiled by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), which shows that 1,018 were repatriated between 2009 and 2016.

It is made up of nine in 2009, 43 in 2010, none in 2011, 130 in 2012, 713 in 2013 and 74 in 2014.

In 2015, 21 were repatriated and 28 were repatriated in 2016 to bring the total number in that period to 1,018.

In 2017, 36 were repatriated followed by 160 in 2018, 376 in 2019, 28 in 2020, 11 in 2021 and 22 by August 2022 to bring the total in this period to 623.

In all, a total of 3,800 are said to be voluntary repatriations in the period between 2009 and 2013.; 2017-36; 2018-160; 2019-376; 2020-28; 2021-11 and 2022-12.

The six people were arrested after a successful operation led by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Martha Kwayie Manu, and the Western North regional forestry manager.

To carry on with the illegal mining, the arrested person, per reports, had cleared a large portion of the Tano Numeri forest reserve leading to the destruction of the vegetation of the area.

During the arrest, three pump action guns, a Nissan 4×4 pick up and other items were retrieved from the miners.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Martha Kwayie Manu, explained to Adom News’ Augustine Boah that they laid in wait for over a week after receiving a tip-off of the activities.

The suspects have been sent to the regional police headquarters at Sehwi Wiawso.

The unnamed victim works with the Akroma Gold Mining Company Ltd as a supervisor for the construction of road networks in the district.

It was in the course of this duty that he reportedly slid off the road and fell into the dam.

He was driving a company car with registration number GT 2680 – 13 at their mining site.

Speaking to Adom News’ Akwasi Dwamena, the general manager for the company, Godfred Somuah, confirmed that rescue team has made efforts to find the victim.

After three hours of search, the company car was retrieved, but the Chinese man was nowhere to be found.

The Manager believes he has been trapped under water.

Efforts are still underway to search for him.

The four, Chen Hung @Labania, Chen Zhili, Stephen Arthur, and Prince Denis Aidoo, were tried for buying and selling minerals in the country without licence, contrary to sections of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended.

This was after the court, presided over by Justice Richmond Osei-Hwere, had overturned an earlier judgment by a Tarkwa Circuit Court which convicted and sentenced the four persons to only the payment of fines.

The High Court found as erroneous the judgment delivered by the Circuit Court on November 5, 2021, in the case involving the four and, therefore, granted an application for certiorari filed by the state to have the decision quashed.

Justice Osei-Hwere ruled that the Circuit Court committed an error of law patent on the face of the record when it convicted the four only to pay a fine instead of imposing the correct sentences of custodial sentence and a fine as prescribed by section 99 (I)(a) of Act 703.

Arrest warrant

The trial judge further issued an arrest warrant for the convicts, who had all absconded from the country after the Circuit Court judgment, to be arrested to serve their prison terms.
Only Chen Zhili has been arrested and is currently serving his jail term.

Charges

The convicts were tried on eight counts made up of three counts of conspiracy to commit crime to wit, two counts of abetment of crime, buying minerals without licence, selling minerals without licence and money laundering.

The Circuit Court in its judgment sentenced Hung, Zhili and Aidoo to pay GH¢144,000 each or serve 15 years jail term, while Arthur was to pay GH¢120,000 or serve 10 years jail term.

However, with the latest ruling of the High Court, the convicts will pay the fines and serve the prison terms in addition as imposed by the court.

Certiorari

The Chief State Attorney, Patience A. Klinogo, who filed the application for the certiorari, argued that the Circuit Court ought to have imposed a term of imprisonment in addition to the fines in respect of six of the charges.

Ms Klinogo, during hearing, prayed the court to allow her to move the application in the absence of the convicts which was granted as they had all left the country and, therefore, efforts made to serve them at their known place of residence had proved futile.

She argued that the Circuit Court failed to impose the expected punishment for the crime the convicts committed.

She said it was important for the court to have imposed the punishment according to the dictates of the statutory provision and that “a court can only exercise its sentencing discretion within the confines of the sentencing regime relating to a particular offence”.

Any attempt to move outside the parameters of the sentencing regime, she argued, would amount to a nullity, as it constituted an error of law patent on the face of the record.

Lawyers for convict Zhili arguments

Zhili’s lawyers attempted to arrest the issuance of the commitment of the warrant issued by Justice Osei-Hwere on grounds that the prosecution adopted an unknown procedure under the Criminal Procedure Act to get sentences of imprisonment.

The lawyers argued that Zhili was not aware of whatever processes the state filed and that the state only claimed they could not find the convicts for which reason it filed an affidavit of non-service instead of substituted service to have them served through other means.

Justice Osei-Hwere, who said he was satisfied with the prosecution’s submission for which the custodial sentences were delivered, advised the lawyers to apply a copy of his judgment and if they had issues address them through a proper forum.

Dozens of panicked schoolchildren were seen ducking underneath their desks before quickly running out of the classroom with their hands over their heads.

The China Earthquake Networks Center said the first quake, in Ya’an’s Lushan county, struck at a depth of 17km.

A second quake followed, measuring 4.5 in magnitude, which killed at least four and left 14 others injured.

Sichuan is a earthquake-prone area. The latest disaster called into memory an 8.0-magnitude quake which hit Wenchuan county on northwest Sichuan in 2008.

The operation, which took place on Friday at Manso Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region, saw the destruction of mining equipment as well as their sheds.

The group, led by their President, Michael Kwadwo Peprah, stormed the site of the Chinese who they claimed were situated by a river in the area.

A video from the operation intercepted by adomonline.com captured the Chinese looking on helpless as their property were destroyed.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Midday News, Kasiebo is Tasty, infuriated Mr Preprah accused the government of being selective with the burning of mining equipment, hence their decision.

He claimed equipment of their members operating near rivers have been burnt while the foreigners have been exempted.

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“They are still working in this area while we have been asked to stop work which we won’t allow… They find a way to get to Asarekrom to carry out their activities,” he fumed.

According to him, they will resist every attempt, particularly in the Amansie West District for the Chinese to operate while the source of livelihood of locals has been cut off.

The plaintiffs sought compensation and other reliefs from court.

However, Shi Li Wen, Huang Shen Jun, Li DeHao and Lan Hai Song are to be deported for illegal stay and using fraudulent means to validate their stay and working without the required permits.

“The four Chinese citizens, who have all violated sections 23(1) and 35(1, d) of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573) of Ghana, when found working by prospecting for gold on the disputed site at Obuasi are to be deported to their country of origin by this court and are hereby deported,” said the Presiding judge.

Asamoah Kati, the Chinese and their Ghanaian collaborator, were arrested after a Kumasi High Court, presided by Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe, granted an absconding warrant.

They were arrested whilst mining gold under the protection of armed guards on land earmarked for a school.

The convicts, who could not meet the bail condition of ¢200,000 each with two sureties, were ordered by the court to deposit their passports and work permits for fear of absconding before the final determination of the case.

They have remained in prison custody since April 19, 2021, until Thursday, when the court ordered their deportation.

The court gathered three convicts through their lawyer passport retention slips dated February and March

“The retention slip numbers and dates on which the passports were retained creates much suspicion as to when they applied for renewals of their resident and work permits and when they were arrested at their site on April 19, 2021.

I Number 0223059 issued on 08/03/20221

II Number 0223060 issued on 23/02/2021

III Number 0223061 issued on 03/03/2021.

“Strangely, slip number 0223060 was issued on February 23, 2021, as the first one. The second to be issued was number 0223061 on March 3, 2021, and the last to be issued was number 0223059, which is the earliest serially but was the last to be issued on March 8, 2021,” the court said.

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The court also heard three of the convicts applied for renewal of permits on May 4, 2021. But the court held that was impossible since they were in prison custody.

Presiding Judge, His Lordship Justice Amedahe, faulted officials at the Kumasi office of the Ghana Immigration Service for deliberately accepting applications of the convicts against their mandates. Such applications are only done at the National Headquarters.

“In this case, after the arrest of the applicants, some officers of the Ghana Immigration Service’s office in Kumasi played various roles in assisting the four applicants living illegally to circumvent the Immigration Act to legalise their stay so they could continue with destruction of our environment.”

“The fight against the galamsey maniac must be extended to the Ghana Immigration Service where the residential status of foreigners who come into this country with 60 days visitor’s visas (B1) issued by our Embassies outside are quick upgraded them into Resident Permits by these officers.

“Some of these visitors engage in illegal mining destroying our lands and water bodies. Some Immigration officers are also quick in doing anything to make things which are illegal to look legal”.

He appealed to the Interior Minister to reconsider the use of discretion by Immigration officers to issue Resident Permits to foreigners who arrive in the country on 60–day visas.

“The court will take this opportunity to appeal to the Minister of Interior to reconsider the use of the discretion of our Immigration Officers in granting of Resident Permits to a foreigner who arrives in this country on 60 days, B1 visas. It has become the order of the day to grant one-year resident permits to foreign visitors when they are not even qualified under the Immigration Act of Ghana to be granted.”

Among reliefs sought by the plaintiffs were declaration that the defendants mining activities were illegal, damages for trespassing and loss of use of the land.

They also sought special damages for the destruction of foundation structures of development projects at the cost of ¢500,000.

Lawyer for Plaintiff, Hans Kwadwo Koduah tells Joynews his clients expected more from the court.

“Lands belonging to my clients at Airport Residential Area and those lands were earmarked for industrial and commercial developments.

“All these pieces of land have been destroyed, so we were asking the court to give us some amount of money representing the land that they have destroyed and also asking for compensation.

“But as the court indicated, the state’s interest is paramount, and it’s superior to that of an individual; therefore, once they were not legally in our country, our interest against them would not be considered above that of the country.

“So virtually, we are getting nothing, but if it is in the country’s interest, then once they are deported, everything comes to a halt. We’ve got nothing out of it. It’s a disappointment, though, but they say it’s in the interest of the state.”

Counsel for the Chinese nationals, Benjamin Andoh, is also not dissatisfied with the ruling. He will confer with his clients for the next line of action.

“The court has made a ruling today. We are not happy with the ruling. We are so dissatisfied with the ruling, but that’s the court’s ruling, but we are bound by it. For now, I have to talk to my clients, take further instructions from them so that we know the next step to take.”

The accused persons were found guilty of violating sections 23(1) and 35(1, d) of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573).

The men, whose identities are not immediately known, were captured in the company of a young Ghanaian lady who prepared the soup for them.

In the photo, two shirtless men were spotted with one holding the pestle while the other took charge of the mortar.

The third person held his waist and observed keenly what was going on.

While details of the location remain sketchy, the photo has shocked many who believe it could be one of the galamsey prone areas.

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They have expressed concerns over how foreign nationals are gradually taking over the country.

Read some of the comments below:

Ms Chen Jianhua was busted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for allegedly transferring the sums illegally.

Her bail conditions were the provision of two sureties to be justified, depositing her passport at the court registry and reporting to EOCO every fortnight.

Ms Jianhua, also known as Esther Chen, is facing charges of money laundering, possession of forged documents, tax evasion and working in the country without a work permit.

She is standing trial with nine other former employees of some banks who are also on bail in the sum of GH¢200,000 with two sureties each to be justified.

They include Mark Fauchie Sobreh, Prosper Sossoe, Kwesi Offei, Khadeeja Busari and Victor Tudzi.

The rest are Allison Akua Kwabena, Ernest Kwame Ansah, Jane Ansah and Nuhu Odu.

Illegal transfers

In 2019, EOCO arrested Ms Jianhua for allegedly transferring $313.59 million out of the country illegally, otherwise known as money laundering.

The Executive Director of EOCO, Commissioner of Police Frank Adu-Poku (retd), said she was placed in police custody in Accra after EOCO found that large amounts of money in dollars, some of them linked to non-existent companies, moved through multiple bank accounts from Ghana to China between 2011 and 2019.

The total credit transactions on the account as of March 20, 2019, was GH¢154.06 million for the local account, and $12.36 million for the foreign account.

The corresponding debit was GH¢154.05 million and $12.36 million.

“She could not explain the source of the funds. Our investigations, however, revealed that those transactions were from companies, including Synergy Global Consult Limited, Venturome Ventures, Kings Royal Real Estates and other Chinese nationals in Ghana.”

Chinese officials accused the US of inciting countries “to attack China”, while the US said China had “arrived intent on grandstanding”.

Relations between the two superpowers are at their most strained for years.

The US pledged to raise contentious issues such as Beijing’s treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

The ill-tempered talks in Anchorage involved Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on the US side, facing off with China’s most senior foreign policy official, Yang Jiechi, and foreign minister Wang Yi.

However, a US official said the subsequent talks behind closed doors had been “substantive, serious and direct” and ran over the planned two hours.

In a blunt opening statement before the talks in private, Mr Blinken said the US would “discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies”.

“Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability,” he said.

In response, Mr Yang accused Washington of using its military might and financial supremacy to suppress other countries.

“It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China,” he added.

Mr Yang said human rights in the US were at a low point, with black Americans being “slaughtered”.

Mr Sullivan hit back, saying Washington did not seek a conflict with China, but added: “We will always stand up for our principles for our people, and for our friends.”

The exchange, which took place in front of the world’s media, went on for more than an hour. It came at the start of three sessions, which are due to end on Friday morning.

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It is the first high-level meeting between the US and China since last June – during the administration of the previous US President, Donald Trump.

Afterwards, the US delegation accused China of violating the agreed protocol of two minutes of opening remarks by each side.

“The Chinese delegation… seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance,” a senior administration official said.

The official said the US would continue with the talks as planned, adding that “exaggerated diplomatic presentations often are aimed at a domestic audience”.

In later remarks via state media, Chinese officials said it had been the US, not China, that had violated protocol by exceeding the agreed time in opening remarks. They accused the US of making a “groundless attack on China’s domestic and foreign policies”.

On a more positive note, it quoted Mr Yang as saying that “serious difficulties in China-US relations in the past should not continue”.

The BBC’s Barbara Plett Usher says the talks are the first chance for the Biden administration to show how it intends to deal with what Mr Blinken has called “the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st Century”.

China is looking for a reset after relations hit rock bottom under the Trump administration, our correspondent adds. Mr Wang has said that Beijing is ready to reopen “constructive dialogue.”

What do China and the US disagree about?

Quite a lot.

Trade for instance. The US accuses China of unfair practices, such as subsidising industries, stealing intellectual property, keeping its currency low and putting up barriers to trade.

For its part, China wants the big trade tariffs introduced by the Trump administration on Chinese goods eliminated. It also accuses the US of “suppressing” successful Chinese tech companies, such as Huawei.

Human rights and democracy. The US accuses China of genocide against the Uighur population in the province of Xinjiang, and trampling on democratic rights in Hong Kong with a recently introduced security law.

But China calls on the US to stop interfering in what Beijing considers its internal affairs and accuses the US of “smearing” the ruling Communist Party.

China is also pushing back against what it sees as US naval encroachment in the South China Sea, which Beijing considers Chinese territory.

The deceased, believed to be a miner, was driving his Toyota car with registration number GN 459-15 when two armed men stopped him in the middle of the road.

The Chinese is alleged to have taken a sick leave from work and was heading to the Proso Government Hospital with three other colleagues when he was gunned down.

Surprisingly, without any confrontation, the unidentified men targeted only the Chinese and started offloading their bullets, through the windscreen, in his direction.

The three colleagues, as at the time the murder was discovered, were no where to be found, intensifying suspicion it was a planned attempt.

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The Chinese miner, after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds in his face and chest, was pronounced dead at the Proso Hospital.

The suspects are on the run while the body has been sent to the Hospital’s morgue.

In the video, some passengers could be seen alighting from a commercial bus, locally called Trotro after a Chinese family got on board.

All the passengers of the sprinter bus disembarked one after the other until the ‘confused’ foreigners were left alone in the bus.

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Their concerns could be attributed to the fact that the coronavirus first emerged from China, hence the need to stay distance apart from the foreign nationals.

Forty-year-old Baba Amadu was allegedly handcuffed, hanged on a tree and beaten with wood till he started vomiting and urinating blood.

According to the victim, he was instructed to offload stones into a machine, an order given by one of his supervisors at the JF Stone Quarry Limited.

He explained that he was fired that day for supposedly causing one of the stones to hit a supervisor, a development which he strongly denies because he reportedly did due diligence before starting the machine.

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He was called to report to work and tortured on arrival.

“When I was ordered to pour the sand into the machine, I complied. No one gave me any counter-instruction. I did not know that my supervisor’s hand was in there. The light had also given the signal that I could discharge the stones. No one was hurt in this process,” he recalled.

Mr Amadu further narrated that: “they told me I was fired and later called me to come back to work only for me to be handcuffed by six people. I was hanged from a tree and beaten with wood. I now see blood when I cough and in my urine.”

Mr Amadu also revealed that shots were fired by the suspects as he hanged from the tree.

JoyNews’ Central Regional Correspondent Richard Kwadwo Nyarko reported that the suspects, who were arrested by the Kasoa Divisional Police, have been granted police enquiry bail.

The Minerals Commission Ghana has also visited the site to assess the situation.

Some of the Chinese were found to selling indomie. The court presided over by Eleanor Kakra Barnes-Botchwey noted that defence counsel had failed to disclose to the court their permanent place of abode.

The court noted that the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) was investigating how they were residing in the country illegally and when granted bail, they might go into hiding.

It held that although the accused persons were entitled to bail under the law but stated that, the grant of bail was under the discretion of the court.

According to the court the charges levelled against accused persons in Takoradi was entirely different from the one in Accra.

In Takoradi they are being held over the charge of conspiracy and threat of harm.

A Circuit Court in Takoradi admitted them to bail after asking them to make a security deposit of GHC 10,000 each and further ordered to deposit their passports with the court.

It further directed the GIS to ensure that they go Takoradi to stand trial.

The court further ordered the GIS to secure an Interpreter and adjourned the matter to December 30.

The five accused persons are: Dehang Li, Haifang Zhou, Jiauong Huan, Li Hui Lauo and Jung Gang Quin. They were arrested on December 4, this year on suspicion that they did not have residence permit and were also engaged in illegal employment.

Soon after their arrest, the GIS arraigned them.

Opposing vehemently to a bail application, the GIS said it found it intriguing that a Chinese national would travel to Ghana and engage in the business of selling Indome at Wassa Akropong in the Western Region.

Chief Superintendent of Immigration Peter Philip Andoh prayed the Court not to grant bail to the five Chinese nationals. Chief Supt. Andoh said it was not possible that the accused persons would come to Ghana to prepare and sell Indomie, a vocation reserved for Ghanaians.

Referring to defence counsel assertion that individuals within the country were to enjoy their fundamental human rights, Chief Supt Andoh noted those rights was not absolute.

He recounted the one of the accused for example had been in the country since 2016 wwithout permit adding that the accused person cannot enjoy that illegality. Applying for bail, Dr. J.E.K Abaka, prayed the court to admit the accused persons to bail pending trial.

Dr Abaka noted that his clients would not abscond since their passports were in the custody of the Regional Commander in the Western Region.

He was not enthused over the fact that his clients were arrested on December 3, this year and put before a Takoradi Circuit court over conspiracy and threat of harm.

According to defence counsel as soon as the Circuit Court in Takoradi had granted them bail, they were arrested the following day and sent to Accra.

There was confusion when the GIS officials decided to escort them back to the custody.

Accused persons wanted to speak to their counsel but the GIS officials declined.

It took the intervention of Chief Supt Andoh before the GIS officials could escort them.

The Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah has warn Chinese contractors assigned to construct the Mamford Fishing Harbour in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region to stay away from young girls who have not attain the marital age in the community.

According to Mr. Asiamah, the Chinese nationals must ensure their presence in the community promotes peace and not to create confusion.

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The Minister said this in a community engagement with the residents of Mamford and urged them give the workers their maximum support.

 “They are going to be in this town for about a year and half and because we don’t want you to regard them as strangers when you see them, that is why we have come to introduce them”, he said.

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“Report cases of sexual harassment to the chief in this town but if the girl is ripe for marriage and he is ready to marry her, that is fine”, he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Kweku Asiamah  assured the funds for the construction of the Mamford landing  beach  is ready with the project  to begin  next week.

Source: Adomonline.com|Adom News

Reports indicate that they were arrested between the hours of 5:40pm and 12:40am on Saturday and Sunday respectively when they were setting up their machines to begin operation upon arrival.

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In a report signed by the Head of Monitoring, Staff Sergeant Francis Assibi Abu, the team during the operation retrieved one excavator, a Toyota land cruiser with registration number GR 1549-09, a washing carpet, a small cylinder, one big cylinder, one fridge, one gallon gear oil and a scale.

The Chinese nationals arrested were Michael Guogenyou, Wei Juanping, Kan Janjong, Huang Yuwei, Wei Wuxian, Wen Shifeng, Gong Yongfun, Chedi Chindong and Lee Yifeng.

Source: Adomonline.com

The two Chinese nationals, Wan Zhi Dong, 49 and Shi Zhi Hai, 51, have been handed over to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining together with two excavators following their arrests.

This was contained in a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency by Captain Andy Sowatey, Public Relations Officer of Operation Vanguard.

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The statement said the two locals, Imoro Yankey, 42 and Kwadwo Apau, 41, are currently in police custody at the Afosu Police Station pending further investigations.

“With the lifting of the ban on small scale mining, some unlicensed miners have resorted to hiding behind the concessions of some licensed small scale miners in other to evade Vanguard patrols.

“Operation Vanguard is, however, putting measures in place to flush them out”, it said.

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The statement said five locals suspected of illegal mining were apprehended in the Prestea Huni Valley District in the Western Region and have been handed over to the Prestea District Police for further investigations to be conducted into their activities.

It said six other locals were arrested in the Wassa Akropong District in the Central Region and have been handed over to the District Police for further action.

Source: GNA

Chinese national, Helena Huang, who jumped bail after her arrest for smuggling four containers of Rosewood from Tamale, was on Tuesday re-arrested and sent to court.

Reports by Adom News indicated that the court, presided over by Justice Twumasi Appiah, acquitted and handed the ‘Rosewood Queen‘ over to the Immigration Service for further action after it emerged that no formal charges had been brought against her.

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Helena Huang appeared in court together with the person who stood surety for her, Mohammed Bondirigbun.

In an interview with Adom News, Mr Bondirigbun explained that he bailed Helena after his friend, whose truck was part of the vehicles confiscated by the police, called him for help.

“I have never stepped in cells but slept in one because of this case. People are talking in town that Helena bribed me but she has never given me even GH¢1 before.

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“I had to pray continuously for her return and had a call from her on Sunday to tell me she is back in town and will appear but I think this is a big lesson to me,” he narrated.

Ms Huang was arrested by Police in Tamale for allegedly attempting to smuggle four containers of Rosewood after she failed to produce her passport and other documents to show that she legally acquired the products.

Listen to audio above:

Source: Adomonline.com | Adom News

Member of Parliament for Shai-Osudoku constituency, Linda Akweley Ocloo, has placed her constituents on high alert over the possible sale of poisonous tilapia in the area.

She explained that Chinese fish farmers whose tilapias are incredibly fat as “eight-months-old baby” and unwholesome for human consumption are responsible for the happenings in her constituency.

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Hon.  Ocloo’s warning follows the widescale deaths of tilapia suspected to poisonous in the Asutware area Thursday.

According to reports, the fishes died due to the impact of the spillage of the Bagri dam – a report the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) has debunked.

Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem Friday, the livid MP blamed the Chinese of poisoning the Volta Lake.

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She alleged that the foreigners import their tilapia and change the temperature of the lake with poisonous chemicals just to increase production.

“I have complained about the conduct of these Chinese fish farmers to EPA and FDA but nothing has been done. I’m not surprised about this poisonous tilapia,” the Shai Osudoku MP bemoaned.

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On the way forward, Hon.  Ocloo said she has asked her constituents not to buy or eat tilapia until the situation is resolved.

Tilapia is a popular Ghanaian delicacy. Banku and tilapia is a common dish on the long list of cherished Ghanaian cuisines.

Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Shi Ting Wang, has expressed serious dismay at the attitude of some Ghanaians who apply for entry visas to the Asian country with fake documents.

This follows complaints by Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu over the maltreatment meted out to some Ghanaian traders at the hands of some Chinese nationals.

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But Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Shi Ting Wang who paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of Parliament, said even though it is imperative to deepen bilateral trade relationships and harmonious co-existence among the two countries, it should be done through genuine means.

He also assured Ghana there will be more support for the country beyond the 2 billion US dollar Sinohydro facility to help ensure economic development.

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Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Ocquaye expressed gratitude to China for its support for various development initiatives in the country.

They were rounded up by a Ghana Immigration Service task force drawn from Obuasi and Kumasi.

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Four excavators and gallons of fuel, probably used to power illegal mining machines, were seized and sent to the regional command of the task force in Kumasi.

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The action of the four miners ran contrary to a ban on small-scale mining by the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government.

Residents of Antiwaaso in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region are licking their wounds over the social effects of Chinese illegal miners’ presence in their locality.

Some residents who spoke to Adom News said not only are the mining activities of the Chinese affecting their water bodies and lands but it has also affected their marriages.

“The Chinese miners snatch women from their husbands. They give them money and they take them. They are destroying marriages here,” one woman said.

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“Since they got here, young girls have been getting pregnant. We see no results with our work. Our lands have been taken by these Chinese illegal miners and our water bodies have been polluted,” another resident cried.

The residents also complain that the galamse activities have created huge gullies which are now death traps due to the activities of the illegal miners.

They are therefore pleading with the government to help stop illegal mining operations in the area.

The two were arrested during patrols conducted over the weekend.

The suspects were handed over to the Datano Police for further investigation.

Similar patrols conducted on the August 9 and 10, 2018 by the various FOBs led to the seizure of several items but the team made no arrests.

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The patrols were conducted in Kwabeng, Damang and Mbaa Baase in the Amenfi West and Huni Valley Districts of the Western region, Apaabena in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central region and Amponyasi, Atakwamekrom in the Adansi South and North Districts of the Ashanti region.

Adom News has gathered that two Excavators, 33 Changfan machines, 5 Water pumping machines, 1 DAF Excavator engine, 16 Floating platforms, 4 Washing platforms and 4 Cylinders were also immobilized.

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Col. Amoah Ayisi, the National Commander for Operation Vanguard said items seized were 2 Control boards, 4 Monitors, 4 Batteries, 1 Water pumping machine and 1 Excavator turbocharger.

He warned that Operation Vanguard will not bow to any local pressures but will continue to help save the environment.

The three suspects who were former employees of the victim have been identified as Collins Opoku Manu, 21-year-old security man, Eugene Allon Nyame, 19-year-old former security man of the victim, and Michael Opoku, 32-year-old air condition technician and former driver of the victim.

Two others identified only as Michael and Daniel aka Chigah are currently at large and are being wanted by the police.

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Briefing the DAILY GUIDE, Chief Superintendent Faustina Andoh Kwofie, director in charge of the Commercial Crime Unit said, the complainant is a Chinese businessman living at Mamprobi-Bamboi, a suburb of Accra.

The three suspects were the victim’s workers and on July 5, 2018, the complainant had an emergency call and had to travel to Kumasi that same day.

In the night, Collins Opoku Manu allegedly conspired with Eugene Nyame and Micheal and the two others at large, and they broke into the victim’s apartment through the window.

This was after Collins Opoku Manu had locked the security dogs in the house.

They stole two laptop computers, a security box containing a cash sum of $40,000 and GH¢30, 000 and other personal belongings.

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After committing the act, the suspect then set the house ablaze and bolted.

The Ghana National Fire Service, Korle-Bu branch upon hearing the fire outbreak, went to put out the fire after an extensive damage had been caused.

Some of the victim’s items destroyed in the fire were a 32 inches television set, company documents, personal documents, phones, wardrobe with assorted personal belongings and bags, money counting machine, CCTV recorder among others.

Police intelligence led to the arrest of the three suspects from their various hideouts in Accra and Offinso in the Ashanti Region.

A total amount of $6,000 and GH¢4,500 was discovered on Collins Manu, while a total of $7,900 and GH¢11,200 was found on Eugene Nyame.

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An amount of $8,000 and total sum of GH¢1,212 as well as 40 inches smart flat screen television set with Kwese decoder were found with Michael Opoku.

She said the suspects have provisionally been charged with the offence of unlawful entry, stealing and causing harmful damage through arson and have been remanded into police custody for two weeks.

Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong has vowed to report ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas to the Chinese Embassy.

He alleged that, Anas Aremeyaw Anas signed a contract with some European companies to discredit the Chinese and make them unpopular in the country as far as illegal mining is concerned.

“I am going to report Anas to the Chinese Embassy, how he championed the killing of some Chinese in the country after taking huge sums of monies from them.  Anas signed a contract with European companies to discredit Chinese and make them unpopular in the country” he said on Adom TV’s Morning Show “Badwam” Tuesday.

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Kennedy Agyapong charged veteran journalist,  Kweku Baako Jnr. to produce the documentary conducted by Anas Aremeyaw Anas concerning illegal mining in the country.

Mr. Kweku Baako Jnr has said the investigative work carried out by Anas, had government and state security officials from top to bottom who seem to be involved in these illegal dealings.

The investigation he noted seems to have revealed that culprits apprehended for conducting illegal mining are released the following day due to their political connections.

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But Mr. Agyapong who claims to have concrete evidence of the dealings of Anas in the galamsey expose said, Anas and his boss have refused to make the expose public because they are not clean.

“I have evidence to support the claims that Anas is corrupt and has some fishy dealings on this galamsey issue. I want to throw a challenge to Kweku Baako to bring out that expose if they are not afraid.

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“I will go to the Chinese Embassy to report Anas to them and tell them how dirty Anas is and the huge sums of money he takes from them when they fail to go his way” he revealed.

Mr. Yeboah in an exclusive interview on a Takoradi-based radio station, Skyy Power ‘the Jolly Breakfast Show’, Wednesday, May 9, 2018, indicated there exist protocols and laws that govern trade undertaken by foreigners in the country but the enforcing agencies seemed to have relaxed in ensuring adherence to them.

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He said the new taskforce would bring sanity in the Ghanaian market to insulate local retailers and traders from unlawful competition by foreign traders.

The composition of taskforce to monitor and clamp down on foreign participation in retail businesses in the country has been a recurring and yet, somewhat a fruitless exercise.

Mr. Yeboah hopes that government this time could demonstrate the political will to arrest the situation.

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“It is our hope that government would this time have the political will to enforce the laws. So if you are a foreigner you will have to abide by them”, he hopeful.

In his attempt to justify the difference this time round the taskforce could effect, Benjamin Yeboah intimated that the coordinated efforts of the various state security and revenue mobilization agencies, just like what was done in years past, would be intensified.

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While a woman, suspected to also be a Chinese who followed them to the court was spotted making number of calls believed to be seeking for the sureties and the money to grant the illegal miners bail, they seem not to be perturbed about the court request as they walked out from the court room without any police escort and lite up their cigarettes to enjoy

The observers who were surprised with what they saw as the scent of the smoke engulfed the entire court compound kept wondering why the authorities could not stop them since it violates the section 58 of the Public Health Act, 2012, Act 851.

The Act stated that ‘A person shall not smoke tobacco or a tobacco product or hold a lighted tobacco product in an enclosed or indoor area of a work place, or any other public place except in a designated area’, as stated by the section 58 of the Public Health Act,2012, Act 851.

It also mentioned the public place to include but not limited to the following places; all workplaces like the factories, and offices, restaurants, pubs, places where children are cared for, health and educational institutions, cinemas, shopping malls, markets, recreational areas, stadia, public transport vehicles, transport terminals and places of collective use.

The eleven “galamseyers” were arrested in a joint swoop by the anti-galamsey taskforce and the Forestry Commission in the New Abirem District of the Eastern Region on Monday September 4, 2017 and have been handed to the eastern Regional Police Command.

The suspected illegal miners were Johnsun Zhang 29, Weng Zheng hon 55, Weng Zhi Dong 47, Tony Tony Yin 47, Cheng Sheng Xhi 61, Zao Wen Lu 43, Lui Zhang Hai 49, Wang Zhi Gong 47 and Shi Zhi Hai 49.

The rest who are also Ghanaians are Akare Thompson 39 and Maxwell Anin 34 years.

They were charged with the offence to commit a crime, mining without license and possession of firearm in the court presided over by Ms. Mercy Kotei.

Prosecuting, the deputy eastern Regional State Attorney, Cyril Boateng Keteku said the suspects were arrested by the joint task force for mining illegally at Nyafoman, Nwiiso, Amenam, Oseikrom and portion of the Kweikaru forest reserve in the New Abirem District.

He said some amount of money, GHS 66,000, $340, 100 Euro, and 2,567 Yen were retrieved from the suspects upon their arrest.

He added that, the team also confiscated Mitsubishi Pajero, a Nissan Hard body pick up, one stung gun, 104 cartridge of AA ammunition, two boxes of dynamite, one jime himderson pistol, one blasting machine a pump action gun and one automatic rifle.

The first was the Chinese sea goddess Mazu (also known as Matsu), widely worshipped in southern China as well as countries with large Taoist and Chinese Buddhist communities such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
She is a patroness of the sea and is believed to protect fishermen and sailors.

Image copyrightTHEAN HOU 

The other two statues are Qianliyan and Shunfeng’er, heavenly guardians of the goddess.
Qianliyan is known for his powers of far-sightedness while the demon Shunfeng’er possesses the incredible ability to hear all sounds carried by the wind, a role believed to aid sailors and passing ships from advancing storms.
The three statues were sent to Malaysia and Singapore as part of an inaugural cultural exchange tour to pay tribute to the sea goddess and celebrate a festival in her name. It was organised by the Meizhou Mazu Ancestor Temple in China.

Photos being widely circulated on Chinese social media showed the statues leaving their coastal temple home and “checking in” at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport.
“How did she get through security checks?” asked amused user Tong Huichun on the popular WeChat messaging app.
“It’s normal for Mazu to give a tour. It’s too far away so she’s taking a flight. Taking a boat will take too long,” said another WeChat user Gong Chang.
Temple staff told BBC News that the religious statues were escorted by “a delegation of more than 130 people” and brought onto a Xiamen Airlines flight heading to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

They flew in comfort in business class, on tickets costing 2,091 yuan (£237) each.
With assistance from airline staff, devotees fastened the sacred statues into first row seats and “widened” them to allow more space.
Taking turbulence into consideration, the statues’ feet were firmly fixed onto the seats with special harnesses.
“This is basic respect we have for the culture of Goddess Mazu,” said a spokesperson who received the statues in Malaysia. “They were also more than 6ft high, so they had to fly business class.”
They even had special passports, which staff from the temple said were a “special courtesy” provided by the airline.
The statues came from a sacred sea temple located off the shores of Fujian province, known to its worshippers as being the birthplace of goddess Mazu.
They travelled more than 2,800km to another temple, the Thean Hou Chinese Temple in Malaysia.
Temple staff highlighted the importance of their voyage.
“This is the body of our divine goddess, a symbol of Chinese folk culture,” a representative told BBC News, adding that processions were held to celebrate the statues’ safe arrivals.
All three statues have made their way to neighbouring Malacca city and are on their way to Singapore. They will then return to their home in China.
 
 

This was after the court was informed that the two Gap Jin Chang, 45, and Li Qi Jun have not submitted their passports to the Court’s Registrar as a condition set out in execution of the bail.

A senior State Attorney Mercy Arthur told the court that her checks indicates that the two had failed to submit their passports to the court for onward transfer to the Ghana Immigration Service(GIS) and are walking freely.

Defence Counsel for the two Mr Kwame Owuredu who was being led by Mr Ellis Owusu Fordjour told the court that the GIS was aware that the two had lost their passports.

Mr Owuredu told the court that the very day the two were arrested they told immigration officials that their passports were missing.

The court however revoked the bail and remanded the two into Prison custody.

Meanwhile EN Huang aka Aisha and the other accused have been able to execute their bail

According to the GII, the AG’s office should not have taken the money in the midst of the prosecution of some Chinese nationals involved in illegal mining in the country.

“The point is that we are currently at the moment dealing with matters that concern Chinese engaging in illegal mining,” said GII Executive Director, Linda Ofori-Kwafo.

“So if the very institution that is mandated under our laws to deal with such matters are accepting gifts at this time then it raises concern,” she adds.

The Chinese mission says the donation is to support the A-G’s office to organise a stakeholders’ consultative workshop on the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill, 2017.

However, a section of the public has also expressed disapproval.

Some Ghanaians on social media say the donation may induce the Attorney General’s office in trying Chinese galamseyers, like Aisha Huang.

Read some of the comments from some Ghanaians on social media below.

A surface mining equipment was found at the scene of a devastated parcel of land hedged by some farmlands. The suspects had built a make-shift structure using aluminium roofing sheets.

The Chinese were operating near a farm owned by NDC National Chairman Mr. Kofi Poturphy at Akyem Segyemaasi.

A combined team from the Ghana Police Service and the Mines and Agriculture Committee of the East Akyem Municipal Assembly arrested them Tuesday afternoon.

They were having lunch at the time of the arrest.

The Police are struggling to get a statement from the suspects because of the language barrier. The police are waiting for an interpreter, Joy News’ Eastern regional correspondent Maxwell

The police are waiting for an interpreter, Adom News’ Eastern regional correspondent Maxwell Kudakor reported.

He, however, said the three, Sing, Leon and Sun, claimed to be service providers for a large scale Chinese mining company which reportedly owns a concession close by.

The Police say they are waiting for the owner of the concession to report and identify the suspects.

They were arrested along with one Ghanaian who gave his name as Douglas.

Government is waging a war on illegal mining which has caused severe destruction to land and water bodies.

The prospects of finding gold in a country of lax and weak mining regulation has proved irresistible for some foreigners mainly from Asia. Several have trooped into the country despite clear mining laws banning them from small scale mining.

The legal hurdle has done little to disuade them from illegally mining damaging farmlands and destroying water sources.

In the most high-profile arrest, a Chinese woman Aisha Hueng believed to have powerful links to politicians was arrested May 8, 2017.

Last week, three Russians and a Ukrainian were arrested at Tontokrom in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region for ‘galamsey’ (illegal mining).

They have been dragged before the Accra Circuit Court charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and undertaking small-scale mining without a licence, contrary to Section 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).

The app, Rela, is no longer available in the Android or Apple app stores, and its website and Sina Weibo account have been deleted.

Users began to notice that the app was not accessible last week. It is unclear why it has been shut down.

Rela told its users on WeChat that the service had been suspended for an “important adjustment in service”.

“Rela has always been with you and please await its return!”

Conservative attitudes

The state internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has not commented on the shutdown.

Some users have suggested that it was connected to Rela’s support for parents of LGBT children who wanted to take part in a “marriage market” in Shanghai on 20 May.

The group joined the weekly event in People’s Park where older parents try to find partners for their unmarried sons and daughters, and handed out “educational flyers”.

According to Sixth Tone, security officers ordered the group to leave the park, saying they had not registered their “advertising event” with the police.

It is not illegal to be gay in China, but homosexuality was considered to be a mental disorder until 2001 and attitudes towards it remain conservative.

Grindr buyout

In April, a Chinese dating app aimed at gay and bisexual men, Zank, was shut down after the CAC accused it of broadcasting pornographic content.

But in February, another dating app, Blued, received substantial funding from the state-backed Beijing News.

Rela’s closure comes a week after a Chinese gaming company completed its buyout of Grindr, the world’s biggest gay social networking app.

Beijing Kunlun Tech bought a 61.5% stake in Grindr in January 2016 for $93m (£72.3m). Last week, it announced it was buying the remaining 38.5% for $152m (£118m).

It also coincides with Taiwan’s top court ruling in favour of legalising same-sex marriage.

Monica claimed she suffered negative backlash when Mr Kweku Baako mentioned one Monica in connection with the galamsey menace on the May 6 edition of Joy FM’s news analysis programme, ‘Newsfile.’

This comes after Kweku Baako’s revelation that another Chinese woman, Huang – who had acquired local names Aisha and Yaa Asantewaa – is the powerful person behind the illegal mining business in Ghana and that she has sex videos of powerful men in the security services as well as decision makers which she uses to blackmail them.

He also mentioned the name of one Monica as one of Aisha Huang’s accomplices.

“…She’s got accomplices – the other one is called Monica, the other, the name has slipped me because it’s a Chinese name. Part of their strength is that they’ve built up a certain system of blackmailing. They are women so I’m not going to use certain words, I’m not going to say certain things,” Mr Baako claimed on the show.

Interestingly however, even though Kweku Baako fell short of giving any other name apart from just Monica, Ms Wei had caused her lawyers to write a letter to him, claiming she was the only Chinese woman in Ghana by the name Monica.

Baako’s Response

But responding to the letter on ‘Newsfile’ last Saturday, Kweku Baako said he was “intrigued that she is the only Chinese Monica in Ghana. I’m surprised.”

According to him, “If I knew the full name, I might have said it.

“You recall that there was a third name I had forgotten; I didn’t mention it, so Madam Monica Wei, if it’s not you, why bother? When the evidence comes out, at the appropriate time, when the evidence of those people engaged in illegal mining – the Chinese – and the Monica are featured, we would know, so, I’m surprised that any lawyer anywhere will write such a letter to me…”

For him, “They are on a fishing expedition…if I were they, I would relax. They should relax. Tell them to exercise patience. … I don’t even know her.”

Mr Baako said the Chinese women had built a network of influence in high places in the country which they rely on for protection whilst engaging in galamsey activities.

According to Hon. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, these Chinese ‘Galamseyers’ ruin every water body they get close to and also “eat all the frogs around the area”.

“…they have eaten all the frogs in this Country and there is no wonder we don’t hear frogs croaking anymore and that tells us we must take the fight against ‘galamsey’ seriously,” he said on UTV.

He made these statement during a discussion on the sophistication and technology introduced by Chinese illegal miners which come along with massive devastation and degradation of the environment.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has, however, maintained that the campaign is meant to stop wrongdoing and not to witch-hunt Chinese.

The deceased whose name has so far been given as Xan and into road construction was found in a pool of blood early Thursday morning.

The residents who feel threatened by this are calling for police protection and want perpetrators behind this heinous crime brought to book.

The deceased’s landlord, Michael Otutey told Adom News’ Kwame Yankah that the deceased has lived in the area for four months alone but he is picked up by colleagues every morning to work and returns in the evening.

However, a driver who came to pick the deceased up that fateful morning found the main gate to the house opened and later realized that the door to his room was also opened.

The driver was in shock to see the deceased in a pool of blood close his washroom.

He then raised alarm and quickly informed the landlord who subsequently informed the police.

The police then locked the main gate to the house preventing neighbours who could not believe the sad news from gaining access to the house.

Some co-workers were seen around trying to come to terms with how this could have happened.

A co-worker, Joseph Cobbinah who does not believe the sad news described the deceased as very friendly and humble.

The deceased house

Police in the area which falls under Baatsona Division of the police command is liaising with Accra Regional command as far investigation is concerned.

Hearing of the case was supposed to be opened formally today [Monday] April 10, but the matter was adjourned to April 24th, when there was no certified Chinese interpreter to interpret proceedings to the five Chinese involved.

The illegal miners were arrested in a swoop on Friday, 25th March, 2017, led by the Western Regional Commander of the Ghana Police Service, DCOP Kwesi Duku.

They were brought before the Sekondi Magistrate Court where they were later remanded by the Sekondi High Court, to reappear before it when the matter was transferred.

Counsel for the 10 suspects, Stephen Alewabah, speaking to journalists explained that “the provision of a certified Chinese interpreter is the responsibility of the court, and due to the absence of one, the case was rescheduled to April 24. ” The 10 suspects have thus been remanded into police custody.

SOURCE: citifm

They were arrested for engaging in illegal mining activities in River Ankobra, one of the main water sources in the Western Region.

The court remanded them into prison custody following their arrest pending the hearing of the case today.

The Chinese suspects were identified as Dong Cheng, 30; Hung Jian, 51; Ning Guorui, 42; Yin Biquiang, 46 and Li Zilong, 44.

According to the Western Regional Police Command, the suspects, upon arrest, claimed they had already transferred the gold mined last Thursday to another Chinese migrant identified as Wang Weng, who is based in Wassa Akropong in the Amenfi East District.

“They claimed the proceeds realised from the illegal operations, had also been transferred to China, their home country, following the transaction with their counterpart”.

An operation by the Western Regional Police Command to flush out illegal miners engaged in the unending illegal mining business in river bodies in the region led to the arrest of the five Chinese nationals.

“They were busily mining gold in River Ankobra with impunity without any regard to environmental challenges, or legal requirements,” the police said.

The Chinese were reportedly spotted mining in the river in two communities identified as Bamiankor and Duwale – in the Gwira areas of the region.

In a related development, five Ghanaians, who were also engaged in the illegal activity in another concession, were also busted by the police.

They are: Eric Owusu, 28; KwabenaAdjei, 50; Nana Adu, 42; Kwasi Owusu, 28, and Kofi Darko, 21.

source: finder