The government of Ghana is yet to compensate the families of the two Naval officers who died in an anti-illegal mining operation in the West African country last year, StarrFMOnline.com understands.

The two soldiers - Leading Seaman Frederick Obed Mensah and Able Seaman Moses Yao Nkyi - of the Western Naval command lost their lives last year during a combined police-military operation to flush out illegal gold miners, locally referred to as ‘galamsey’ operators, at Sekyere-Krobo in the Western region of Ghana.

Speaking to StarrFMonline.com, John Takor Mensah, father of the late Obed, said he regrets allowing his son to join the military.

“The military is still playing cat and mouse game with me. It was the State that killed my son, how can a professional organisation like the Navy embark on such operation without life jackets,” the aggrieved father lamented.

The operation was in response to a directive by the Western Regional Security Council (REGSEC) after the illegal miners had blocked a portion of the River Pra at Sekyere-Haiman, an action which prevented water from flowing into the intake area of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) at Bosomase and Daboase.