The storm over the seized excavators at Tarkwa has taken a dramatic turn, with growing claims that young soldiers assigned to guard the equipment are being unfairly scapegoated in a wider political cover-up.
Reports accuse Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Armah Kofi Buah, and his brother, Col. Buah, of orchestrating a scheme to release the seized excavators to illegal miners, while branding the deployed officers as “rogue” to shield powerful interests.
It has been gathered that the team deployed by the Minister, which have released the seized excavators have allegedly collected a whopping $2 Million from the Chinese nationals for the release of each excavator, whilst Ghanaian nationals willing to retrieve their excavators were made to pay an amount of GHC100,000. 00.
Security insiders say the soldiers were detailed by the Presidency itself and performed their duties within lawful authority.
“How can four junior officers single-handedly control 41 heavy-duty excavators for months without higher-level backing? This narrative doesn’t add up,” one security source told reporters.
The scandal deepened after revelations that Col. Buah backdated his appointment letter as head of the newly created National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) to June 10, 2025, weeks before the task force was formally launched.
Critics say NAIMOS is fast becoming a political smokescreen, shielding connected galamsey financiers.
The Ministry of Defence reportedly considered transferring the excavators to the 2nd Infantry Battalion, but logistical constraints left the machines under the soldiers’ guard at Simpa Junction. Alleged attempts by Col. Buah and associates to forcibly retrieve the equipment on July 17 and July 18 failed.
Meanwhile, evidence suggests a coordinated effort to smear anti-galamsey activists Abanga and Yamin, with a secret meeting between ministry officials and selected media figures on June 29, 2025.
Days later, media reports accused the activists of extortion, prompting the Attorney-General to direct EOCO to investigate them.
Observers now argue that the real scandal lies in political interference, not the conduct of the soldiers. Civil society voices are calling for an independent probe, stressing that “targeting the young officers while sparing the powerful is not justice but political theatre.”
