…Loot Gold, Pick-Up Vehicle As Company Cries For Justice
By Ellen Agbevor, back from Enchie
In the dead of night on 12 February, 2020, operatives of the Operation Vanguard, who are supposed to be chasing away illegal miners in areas where galamseys is going on, raided the premises of Chrisphil Goldfields Limited (CGL) , a licensed mining company, lined the Chines directors up, and after they(Chinese) produced their documents of demand, the operatives allegedly made away with 42 grams of gold, 43,500 Ghana Cedis, and a Toyota Hilux pick up- 2019 model, with a registration number AW 7777 – 19.
So far, according to Mr. Gyedu Ayisi, Site Manager for the Company, Chrisphil Goldfields Limited was only able to retrieve their directors two iPhones from the team the next day they visited the Operation Vanguard camp, but the remaining items -one Apple Lap top, 42 grams of gold, 43,500 Ghana Cedis and Toyota Hilux pick up 2019 model with a registration number AW 7777 – 19-were nowhere to be found.
Speaking to Mr. Micheal Gyedu Ayisi in an interview, he called on the Operation Vanguard team to return every item they picked from the site during the raid.
According to Mr. Gyedu Ayisi the items were equivalent to huge sums of money which would cause financial loss to the company if not returned.
He therefore called on government to intervene in the case and ensure that they received justice.
“Chrisphil Goldfields Limited is a legal mining company which has offered the youth in this area jobs and has contributed and supported local authorities in one way or the other as its corporate social responsibility though it has been in existence for just one year two months”, he explained.
Chrisphil Goldfields Limited is into legal large scale mining with legitimate documents and license to operate, and the leadership is very much concerned about our safety in every aspect of our lives thus the staff which is a plus to the company.
The community members, Mr. Gyedu Ayisi said, have benefitted so much from the company, adding that “We are glad to be working for Chrisphil Goldfields Limited and we have not regretted working with them and we will never regret working with them.”
He appealed to the military command to help identify the person who gave the directive for the operatives to carry out the raid and sanction them accordingly.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Aowin Municipal Assembly, Enchi, Samuel Adu – Gyamfi on his part confirmed that Chrisphil Goldfields Limited is a legal large scale mining company in the community and has supported the Assembly in many ways.
“When I assume office a year after, one Philip Akuffo brought legal mining license of a company seeking my permission to do large scale prospecting in my districts, Bionso to be specific, which I granted him the permission to operate and they put up an European standard camp meaning they are in to do business and not illegal mining.”
He continued that “Later Mr. Akuffo came to introduce one foreign partner called Lee and that is how I came to know the company”, he stated.
Looking at the kind of license and documents the managing director presented to me I would describe Chrisphil Goldfields Limited as a legal infant large scale mining company that has a lot of good things to offer the community, District and the country as a whole, the MCE indicated.
He said, he has visited the site and seen things by himself and would rather advised that anyone who want to do legal mining should be encouraged, because by so doing it would reduce the illegal mining activities in the area. Moreover, he noted, these documents are signed and stamped by the Minister for Lands and Forestry, meaning it has been endorsed so there is no way one would describe Crisphil Goldfields Limited as an illegal mining company.
Foreign individuals and groups who are operating in the area do not have camps as Chrisphil Goldfields Limited, they only have tents in the bushes
He added that if someone has come to do legal mining in the area, there is the need to encourage the person to work because government is not in support of any form of illegal mining.
According to Hon. Adu Gyamfi, the road from Elubo -Boinso – Enchi is not in a proper shape and when it rains it becomes worse, but that since Chrisphil Goldfields Limited started its operations in Boinso anytime it rained “they assist us with their machine to make road better to access.
“That road becomes very bad when it rains so in the year 2018, 2019 and even five months ago the company really supported the Assembly in making the road better for accessible when it rains”, he said.
He, therefore, condemned the acts of the Operation Vanguard team who raided the premises of the company and said he has no idea about the incident.
“I have not heard of this particular incident but sometimes we do hear community members talk about such operations undertaken by the Vanguard team and I usually don’t work it because they are unconfirmed”, Hon. Adu Gyamfi stated.
