The Media Coalition against illegal mining has called for the inclusion of the press in the activities of Operation Vanguard, the anti galamsey task force deployed by government.

Convener of the Steering Committee of the coalition, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, argues that the inclusion of pressmen at the forefront will provide first hand reportage which will curtail reliance on secondary information meant to discredit the gains by the joint military and police taskforce.

“I think it is about time that we embedded independent members of the media into the operations in such a way that we will be able to report from the front, fairly and accurately,” he told Moro Awudu on Class FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Monday, August 14, adding, “There is a pattern to discredit the work that Operation Vanguard is doing and for me that is worrying.”

On Sunday, August 13, four galamseyers were found dead near a mining site at Anyinam in the Atiwa District of the Eastern Region. Members of Operation Vanguard have been accused of killing the four but the taskforce has denied involvement in the killings.

The spokesperson for Operation Vanguard, Major Gariba Pabi, denied the claims, stating that the task force has not been to the area.

For Mr. Ashigbey, false claims against the Operations need to be curtailed and the media needs to be careful not be engaged in perpetrating the agenda of those unhappy about the fight to end galamsey.