Small-scale miners in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region are voicing anger and disillusionment, accusing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of abandoning its campaign promise to regularise their operations.

Many of the miners, who say they spent personal resources to campaign for the party, now feel betrayed after being branded as “illegal miners” and subjected to violent crackdowns by local authorities.

The discontent was made public by Augustine Mmi-oni Guure, Constituency Secretary of the NDC in Talensi, during an interview on A1 Radio, monitored by ClassFM.

He stressed that while the NDC leadership had pledged to streamline small-scale mining, actions by government appointees on the ground were instead escalating tensions.

According to Guure, decisions to seize mining lands without compensation or providing alternative livelihoods have left miners who inherited pits dating back to the 1990s in economic despair.

“The gun does not know callous. The gun only knows that I have an enemy,” Guure warned, linking the miners’ desperation to a rise in violent crime and armed robbery in the district.

He cautioned that frustrated miners could soon direct their anger at politicians and community leaders, describing the situation as both a humanitarian and security crisis.

“I cannot get to eat… Then I see somebody passing, especially we politicians… Next time, the bullet would go,” he said starkly.

Guure urged political authorities and traditional leaders to open dialogue with miners to seek a sustainable solution, warning that failure to act urgently could destabilise the constituency.