A young Ghanaian woman has made an emotional appeal for justice after alleging that a Chinese illegal miner, commonly known as a galamseyer, abandoned her following a romantic relationship and impregnating her.
According to the woman, identified as Selina Adu Gyamfi, from Abodom in the Asante Bekwai Municipality, in the Ashanti region, who shared her ordeal in an interview on Kumasi-based Nhyira FM, the Chinese national disappeared just as she discovered she was expecting his child.
She revealed that they began a relationship while he was working at a mining site in one of the galamsey areas in the Ashanti Region, where she often assisted with errands for some of the workers.
“My issue is that some Chinese people came to Abodom, Asante Bekwai, for galamsey. I had a relationship with one of them called Leon. When they were leaving, I didn’t know I was pregnant,” the woman tearfully recounted.
She added that she believed the Chinese galamseyer because he acted like he truly cared. But once she told him that she was pregnant, everything changed.
“He told me he loved me. He used to give me 1,000 cedis a week or sometimes 500 cedis every three days,” she narrated.
She claims the Chinese man became distant and eventually disappeared without a trace. All attempts to contact him have proven futile, leaving her to struggle with the pregnancy alone.
“I called to inform him I was pregnant, and he said he liked it, but I don’t know what people told him; he started avoiding me and eventually blacklisted me,” she said.
Despite reporting the matter to police, which led to Leon’s brief arrest, he was released and has since vanished completely.
She noted that “Leon was good to me while we were together, but now I’m struggling to take care of the child alone. I don’t know where he is.”
As the woman awaits assistance, her story highlights the broader social issues surrounding illegal mining in Ghana and its impact on local communities, especially women.
Ghanaian woman cries out, calls on authorities to help locate her Chinese lover, one Lee Hyung, aka, Bra Yaw, after he abandoned her and their 2-year old child.
According to her, all attempts to contact and reach her baby daddy have proved futile, as he has vanished without any… pic.twitter.com/dYHFJ6122E
— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) June 27, 2025
Chinese nationals engaged in galamsey have once again come under public scrutiny following reports of widespread destruction of Ghana’s water bodies.
On Thursday, June 19, 2025, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Tong Defa, stirred national controversy by asserting that Ghana “can never eliminate” galamsey, and must instead find ways to manage its environmental impact.
Addressing journalists at a media interaction held at his private residence in Accra, the envoy blamed Ghanaians—not Chinese nationals—for the deepening galamsey crisis, insisting that locals are the ones facilitating the illegal activities.
“To my understanding, in this country, you can never eliminate those small mines. Those mines, you will have illegalities involved in them,” he said. “We need to find ways to solve this problem… The government needs to work on a policy to eliminate the pollution of waters and forests.”
The ambassador’s comments come amid renewed national outrage over the environmental devastation caused by galamsey. Civil society groups, including the Ghana Coalition Against Illegal Mining, have called for stronger action against financiers and political actors behind the illegal trade.
Ambassador Defa dismissed the common perception that Chinese nationals are at the centre of illegal mining operations in Ghana. “I don’t understand why when people say galamsey, they equate it to Chinese,” he stressed.
