Amantin (Western Region), 23 Oct.
A group of angry ”galamsey boys” operating at Manso, Amantin, Esuaso, and Benso along the western railway line on Tuesday morning attacked the Takoradi-Kumasi express train with missiles. The incident happened when the galamsey boys who boarded the train along the route, were approached by the Ghana Railway Corporation (GRC) management monitoring team on the train to produce their tickets. The police said the men, numbering over 30, did not buy tickets before boarding the train and when the monitoring team, numbering about four, attempted to arrest them, they took advantage of their small number to struggle with members of the team. As soon as the train stopped at Manso, the boys managed to jump out of the train but one of them was arrested and handed over to the Tarkwa police. The boys became wild and rushed on the monitoring team with their cutlasses, knives, sticks and stones, threatening to slash them to death if their colleague was not released. Some of them started throwing stones at the train and in the commotion, the arrested person managed to escape. Sensing danger, the train driver sped off before any serious damage could be done to the train and the passengers. Although the train was not damaged, one of the train guards was hurt on the right hand by a flying stone. Speaking to GNA in an interview, Mr. James Azong, a member of the management monitoring team, said the galamsey boys started harassing trains about two months ago soon after the introduction of the monitoring team. He said the boys in collusion with some train drivers and ticket examiners were boarding the trains free of charge. Mr. Azong said management of GRC realised that although more people patronised the train the revenue was reducing at an alarming rate. When members of the team started work, they unearthed a host of malpractices which have been sending the corporation’s revenue into the pockets of some train drivers, ticket examiners and train guards, he said.
