The Russian galamsey operators
The Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, has promised to deal decisively with any military man found to be protecting persons engaged in illegal mining commonly known as ‘galamsey’ in the country.
According to him, the law would not be compromised if any military officer engages in illegality.
He charged officers to be professional in their work and abide by the laws of the land.
The minister, who made the remarks when he addressed a durbar of army officers at the Michel Camp in Tema as part of a working visit to some military installations in the area, said that the military high command had been tasked to institute investigations into recent allegation of some military officers protecting some illegal miners.
In recent times, news of some military officers alleged to be   protecting illegal miners has become topical.
A case in point was soldiers as well as policemen protecting ‘galamsey’ operators believed to be Russians and Ukrainians in the Ashanti Region.
Mr Dominic Nitiwul recalled that there are some existing provisions whereby the military, based on request, are asked to protect some legal mining companies against attacks but that does not include galamseyers.
He warned that if the allegations turned out to be true, those officers would be dealt with according to law.
The minister called on the officers of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to lead disciplined lives, as government is prepared to equip and motivate them.
He further assured the GAF of government’s commitment to solving the poor accommodation problem facing the officers.
The defence minister gave the assurance when he toured the One Garrison, comprising the Eastern Naval, the Michel Camp and the Shai Hills Military Training School.
The Minister, who was in the company of the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and top military officers, first visited the Eastern Naval Base.
He also inspected the ongoing housing project for naval officers which is about 90 percent complete at Tema Newtown but had been abandoned.
Mr Nitiwul, who also led the team to inspect encroachment on the military lands, expressed disgust about the situation and charged the military to ward off the encroachers.
 From Vincent Kubi, Tema