When the forces of darkness seek to cover up what the people must know, it is the duty of those who bear the torch to expose it by shedding light on it without compromise. Many fatal accidents have happened needlessly to Ghanaians in the Shaanxi mine at Gbane in the Talensi District. The Chinese-owned company is never comfortable with these accidents being reported. The company will do anything behind the scenes to block the public from knowing about the accidents or any ills. Each time an accident occurs, they cook a highly spiced impression on air that all is well for the public to consume; with a great lie-telling talent, they try to downplay an earthquake as a mere handshake. That is not the reality behind the curtains. This allows the tragedies to continue to strike episodically at the mine, the major and regular casualties being the Ghanaian employees wearing the blue collar― the labourers. I remember, around the middle of 2018― the month of May, precisely― four mineworkers collapsed after inhaling a toxic gas that emanated from an explosive blasted by Shaanxi, and another Ghanaian, on same day, had a part of his leg ripped off like when the skin of an orange is peeled off deep with a sharp knife. The company’s PRO (Maxwell Wooma) scrambled to block the story from being told. He sent an SMS to me. John Peter Amewu was the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources at the time. The SMS from the Shaanxi PRO reads: “Good afternoon Sir. I have heard of your encounter with some accident victims of my company. I have been on leave but informed slenderly [sic] about the issue. Notwithstanding, I, in the name of our God, please [sic] with you to stamp it out from your list of stories to as usual, aid a brother. It is because of you I am. I am on my way to accra [sic] to meet the Hon Sector minister on developments in my mine. What a slap it will be to reach there seeing him fuming at me. I will do all I can to ensure safety issues are taken more seriously to protect our brothers. As usual, one for all, all for one. God help in your decision making and bless you for taking same. Regards.” Sending such a message to me, where we are talking about human lives being at risk, is a complete waste of time. The story was published: https://starrfm.com.gh/2018/05/ue-r-disaster-strikes-shaanxi-mines-again/. In the text message you just read, the PRO says he will do all he can to ensure safety issues are taken more seriously. In other words, he means safety issues were being taken less seriously until he knew a story was going to be published about the then-latest accident. But the same PRO had consistently and confidently told the public that the company was committed to the safety of the workers with a tone that suggested that the safety of the labourers was on the company’s front burner or was one of the company’s prioritised concerns. An example of that regular commitment statement is found in the last paragraph of this link: https://www.a1radioonline.com/16975/no-disaster-shaanxi-mines-management/index.html. He probably forgot he had sent a text message which rather exposes the disturbing reality hidden from the public. He needs only to say there was no such text message and I will put a screenshot of it here with his phone number captured with it. The Cash meant to suppress a Dark Secret There is another example, which many already know about, telling you how Shaanxi will do anything behind the scenes to cover up the realities. A Minister of State at the Presidency, Rockson Ayine Bukari, pleaded with me to not publish an investigative story about some secret meetings that took place between Shaanxi and Justice Jacob Bawine Boon, a judge formerly at the High Court One in Bolgatanga. Shaanxi was having a case against another foreign mining company (Cassius, from Australia) before Justice Boon at the time and Shaanxi officials had gone to his (Justice Boon’s) residence where I caught them four times meeting with the judge on separate days between November and December, 2018. The next thing was an attempt to block the story from being told to the public. They brought cash. They brought a new motorbike of the latest brand. And they promised to bring more. They said the cash and the motorbike package was just the beginning only if I would not tell the public about the meetings between Shaanxi and Justice Boon. I was told the CEO of Shaanxi, Xing Wei, was the 9th richest man in all of China, the most populous nation on Earth. I also heard he was (and probably still is) the fifth foreign investor in America in terms of asset size. I placed more value on being true to Journalism (by telling the public what they should know) than what somebody else definitely would do― to take the cash, ask for more, kill the story, win the hearts of the billionaire monster and those who support them and enjoy a threat-free life with his or her family. I could count about four journalists in the Upper East Region who I can trust will not take a bribe to kill a story and I could name two local radio stations in the region that will not support any oppressor and neglect the outcry of the oppressed. A Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice at the time, who applauded how I handled the matter by putting the public interest first, told me the findings were so damning I could have “built three mansions” from the company if I had wanted to take advantage of that top-secret scandal by killing the story. Justice Boon, when the cover was blown, admitted before lawyers on Monday December 17, 2018, to having those ex-parte (one-sided) meetings with Shaanxi officials at his residence and had no choice but to recuse (disqualify) himself from the case: https://starrfm.com.gh/2018/12/judge-recuses-himself-as-shaanxi-officials-attempt-to-bribe-journalist/ The case was remitted as a result of the recusal (disqualification)