…Amid calls for action, resignation or impeachment
The President, Nana Akufo-Addo, is reported to have ordered the deployment of the police and the military to crack down on illegal small-scale mining, as calls grow for action.
The decision, was taken after a national security meeting to assess the impact of galamsey on river bodies and the environment.
Speaking at a media engagement Wednesday night, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, who has been under pressure to resign, said the President, has also directed the decommissioning of illegal mining equipment if necessary.
Many had hoped that President Akufo-Addo, was going to speak directly to the galamsey menace which has gotten several personalities, institutions and trade unions charging at the President in recent days.
Ggalamsey, has left the countries water bodies polluted, forest covers depleted, 1.2 million hectres of farmlands ravaged, public and private properties razed down and lives lost.
Organised Labour on Wednesday issued a stern warning to the government, threatening a nationwide strike by the end of September, if decisive action is not taken to address the escalating galamsey crisis.
Other groups, including religious leaders, have voiced the same sentiments.
Mr Jinapor said “The various Regional Security Councils have been tasked to conduct recording sounds and scrutiny of their various areas and begin to roll out swoops and enhance the enforcement regime. So in the days and weeks to come, we will see the heightened and rampant enforcement.
“The Ghana Police Service at various RESECs will be the first point of call, if the need arises we will take it a step further by including the Ghana Armed Forces and when the need arises, we will possibly begin the extraordinary measure of decommissioning equipment used for illegal small scale mining,” he stated.
The management of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) in the Central Region, announced that there would be challenges with water supply in Cape Coast, Elmina, and surrounding communities.
The GWCL, revealed that the recent demand-supply gap is due to inadequate raw water received at the Sekyere Hemang Water Treatment Plant (WTP) caused by galamsey activities.
The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) is among the groups that have called for action on the matter.
It asked for the immediate resignation of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, following his remarks regarding the demands for a declaration of a state of emergency to tackle illegal mining.
During the media engagement in Accra, Jinapor, described the calls for President Akufo-Addo to declare a state of emergency as “draconian” and warned that such a move would have far-reaching consequences for the country.
However, Kenneth Koomson, Deputy Secretary General of the GFL, expressed dissatisfaction with the minister’s stance, stating that it either reflects a lack of understanding of the gravity of the issues facing the nation or a deliberate attempt to downplay them.
However, speaking in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM, Mr Koomson criticized Jinapor’s comments and questioned his ability to effectively manage the fight against illegal mining.
“The minister clearly appears to be ill-informed and ill-equipped or perhaps, pretending not to understand the gravity and the magnitude of the issues that we have recounted and enumerated. For him to even describe the call for the president to activate Article 31, which is a state of emergency and describe it as draconian is very pathetic and smacks of a deliberate act to destroy the very water bodies that protect and give us life.
“For him to describe this as draconian is quite unfortunate and in fact, the minister must resign for making that statement because he clearly doesn’t really understand the issues and he is not fit to occupy that position with that kind of thinking cap.
“For us to have 2.5 million hectares of our forest reserve decimated by the activities of galamsey means a whole country is wiped by the activities of a few evil men.”
Jinapor, has meanwhile dismissed calls for his resignation over the government’s handling of illegal mining widely known as galamsey.
According to him, there is no need to step down, stating that while people are entitled to their opinions in a democracy, he disagrees with calls for his removal.
In an interview on Joy FM’s Newsnight on yesterday, Thursday, September 12, he said: “I have heard other groups say that the president should be impeached and so and so forth. In a democracy, with the greatest of respect, people are entitled to express views and so on and so forth. I don’t find the need for that,” he stated.
Groups like the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Fisheries, have also called for the minister’s removal, claiming he and his deputies have failed to address the galamsey crisis, leading to environmental degradation, including the depletion of forests and destruction of water bodies.
Some members of the clergy, have also called for the minister’s resignation.
But Mr Jinapor, maintained that the government has made significant efforts in the fight against illegal mining.
He, however, noted that to achieve the ultimate results, there is a need for a collective effort to address the situation, adding that the government is fully committed.
Asked whether he accepts to have failed since the water turbidity level is at 14,000 NTU, he replied: “I am not looking at this matter from the point of failure or success. The most important thing is that we have a framework and if we have to tweak it, we will do so.
“I have seen turbidity levels over the period go up and down… what is actually important is that we continue with the effort and that is exactly what we are trying to do.”
