The Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Professor Nana Ama Klutse, has detailed the circumstances surrounding the recent accident involving journalists and EPA staff during an anti-galamsey operation near Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.
Professor Klutse explained that the team’s vehicle crashed while fleeing from a group of heavily built, armed illegal miners.
“The operation we started on Wednesday, November 5, is part of a three-week plan by the EPA to address illegal mining activities, particularly those affecting our water bodies,” she said. “We realised that simply stopping mining in the rivers was not enough; we needed to target the suppliers as well.”
The operation began with the closure of several shops at Anhwia Nkwanta that supply equipment for illegal mining. On Thursday, the team was heading to another location when they encountered active galamsey activities near Obuasi.
“Near Obuasi, we saw illegal mining on the ground and decided to inspect the area. By the time we got there, most of them had fled. While leaving, we saw excavators in the river, which had blocked tributaries and caused flooding. It was a really messy situation,” she said on TV3 on Thursday, November 6.
Professor Klutse noted that as the team was leaving, armed men approached, forcing them to flee for safety.
“We had the military and national security with us, but we couldn’t engage them, so we had to run. In the process, while speeding on the road, we were involved in an accident,” she recounted.
She explained that one of the vehicles carrying EPA staff and journalists collided head-on with a truck transporting pipes suspected to be used for illegal mining.
“Some of the heavily built men were dressed in black with CID written on the back. The soldiers and national security personnel asked them for their IDs, but the situation became confrontational, so we had to leave,” she added.
Professor Klutse also revealed that the team received instructions from Accra to change their route due to security concerns. “We had to use a much longer route through the Western and Central regions to Kumasi, but just before reaching Kumasi, the head-on collision occurred,” she said.
She appealed to health workers treating the injured journalists and EPA staff to provide special care, noting that they were injured while on national duty.
“We thank God that we all survived. Unfortunately, some sustained injuries. One of the Joy TV cameramen has a broken thigh, Adom TV’s correspondent sustained a head injury, and some EPA staff were also involved. They are all responding to treatment. We have requested special attention for them because they were on a national assignment when this incident occurred,” she concluded.