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General Secretary of the Small-Scale Miners Association, Godwin Armah has refuted claims by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng that the Chairman of the Minerals Commission Board, S.K. Boafo interfered in the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
Mr. Armah indicated that the association was not surprised at some of the names captured in the galamsey report authored by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng but explained that the mention of the Minerals Commission’s Board Chairman may have stemmed from the illegality he stopped the IMCIM from perpetuating.
He told Selorm Adonoo on The Big Issue on Citi TV and Citi FM that, “When this report came out, we were not surprised as miners, the reason being that some of the names mentioned, we have been hearing all the time on the field.”
Mr. Armah further disclosed that the association at a point was working with a joint steering committee for small-scale mining at the Minerals Commission where members raised concerns about their mining concessions being forcefully taken by the IMCIM to be used for community mining without the proper documentation and so S.K. Boafo had to step in which resulted in confusion.
“There was serious confusion between the Minerals Commission and the Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining on the issue of the community mining scheme but now with engagement with the Ministry and then the small-scale miners association with the Minerals Commission, it has been streamlined, and now we have a document which state how the community mining should be done and that it should be in accordance with the Minerals and Mining Act so that is why you have this SK Boafo issue in the report”.
“They [Minerals Commission] insisted that as an agency, they will not sit for illegality to be perpetuated by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining in terms of getting people’s concession encroached because the owners of the concessions can come and sue the government.”
Portions of Professor Frimpong-Boateng’s report indicated that the Lands Ministry became hostile to the community mining programme shortly after it was commissioned by President Akufo-Addo and was later backed by S.K. Boafo making it difficult for the Chairman of the Minerals Commission Board to do its work.
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