An ad hoc committee not the solution to ‘galamsey’ now – A-Rocha Ghana to Akufo-Addo

The Deputy National Coordinator for A-Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bossu, has kicked against President Akufo-Addo’s 5-member ministerial ad-hoc committee to assess galamsey fight.

The President wants the committee to evaluate the government’s ongoing efforts to combat illegal mining, which is also known as ‘galamsey.’

The committee has been given the responsibility of reviewing the effectiveness of the measures implemented to address the environmental damage caused by illegal mining across the country.

Comprising senior government officials, the committee will assess the current strategies and policies aimed at halting galamsey activities and recommend any necessary reforms to strengthen the government’s efforts.

Additionally, they will examine the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies and local authorities in their fight against illegal mining.

Leading the committee are National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah, Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul, Employment Minister Ignatius Baffour Awuah, and Information Minister Fatimatu Abubakar as members.

This is not the first time the government has set up a committee to tackle illegal mining. The Inter-Ministerial task force against illegal mining led by the former Environment and Science Minister Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, was faced with challenges from the very presidency that set it up, making the Chairman resign from his role.

This latest attempt by the government comes due to increasing public pressure as rivers and forest reserves have been damaged raising health concerns and a possible water crisis in the short term.

The President’s committee followed calls by the Trades Union Congress and some civil society organisations to ban all illegal mining and declare a state of emergency in all mining communities.

Organised Labour on Wednesday, September 11, also 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.

Despite putting his presidency on the line, Akufo-Addo has failed woefully with the galamsey fight in over seven years, now setting up another committee after rubbishing reports from previous committees which named persons in his government and office involved in the act with evidence.

Speaking at Media General’s Anti-galamsey forum on the theme; The Galamsey Fight, Beyond the Talk, What Next?, Daryl Bossu noted that “there is a leadership deficit when it comes to the discussion on galamsey and an ad hoc committee is not the solution now.”

Source:onuaonline.com