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Former Member of Parliament for the Okaikwei North constituency, Fuseini Issah, says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is still committed to the fight against illegal mining otherwise known as ‘galamsey’ in the country despite the challenges.
President Akufo-Addo in July 2017, in a forum against illegal mining, organised to get Ghana’s chiefs involved in the fight against galamsey put his presidency on the line for the fight. He vowed to stop the menace, even if he ends up losing the presidency.
The story has been different as some stakeholders have lashed out at the President for reneging on his promise of fighting galamsey.
Contributing to a panel discussion on Citi TV/Citi FM’s news analysis programme, the Big Issue, hosted by Selorm Adonoo, the former MP posited that more efforts are needed in the fight against galamsey.
“Galamsey is a multifaceted problem that we have had to deal with as a people, as a nation and economy. It’s a complicated issue that we will have to do more to be able to bring this menace to some appreciable levels. The government led by President Akufo-Addo is still very committed to the fight against galamsey. But the nature of this menace is making it quite difficult,” he said.
Agreeing with the presidency’s response on the galamsey report by the former Chairman of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former legislator said the report was characterised by allegations that official reports are devoid of.
“Looking at the report the good old Prof. Frimpong-Boateng produced, reports are produced at different levels. I think that per the release from the presidency I totally agree, when there are official reports, there are ways in which they are written. Hardly will you see personal issues like the mentioning of specific names, or allegations as contained in the Professor’s report relative to a report that was meant for a body like Cabinet,” Fuseini Issah argued.
He scolded Professor Frimpong-Boateng for not going through the normal processes of writing Cabinet reports.
“IMCIM was a creation of Cabinet so I would have expected that at some point, the Professor who was put at the helm of affairs would have produced a report directed to Cabinet in a way that we prepare Cabinet reports, with the transmittal letter and everything addressed to either the President or Cabinet. This whole report looks like a very informal report,” he said.
The former Chairman of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining in a 37-page document accused government officials of engaging in galamsey or interfering in his work.
But the presidency responding to the claims in a statement said they are a catalogue of grievances of Professor Frimpong-Boateng and could best be described as hearsay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/tX2Nkp4iwNc
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