As part of President John Dramani Mahama’s desire to halt illegal mining popularly called galamsey in Ghana, the Minister for Lands And Natural Resources, Hon Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has resolved to clamp down on illegal mining activities in forest reserves and river bodies.
He has therefore encouraged the anti-galamsey task force and water guards protecting the forest reserves and river bodies that they should boldly execute their mandate to stamp out illegal miners popularly called galamseyers from further exacerbating the environment.
According to Hon Armah-Kofi Buah, ” President John Dramani Mahama will not interfere in the fight against galamsey by calling any member of the anti-galamsey task force to halt their operations so we are empowering you to do your job”.
The Minister for Lands And Natural Resources was speaking to the media after reclaiming the shelter belt of the River Offin with the anti-galamsey task force in the Ashanti Region.
The tour also afforded Hon Armah-Kofi Buah the opportunity to pay a courtesy call on the Overlord of the Ashanti Kingdom,Otumfuo Osei Tutu to solicit his advice and direction in the fight against galamsey in the Region and the country at large.
The galamsey fight dubbed, “Agenda No Mercy For Illegal Miners”, is taking bold, decisive and concrete steps to curb the menace in the country’s degradable lands and polluted river bodies to restore farmlands,water and ecosystems.
He used the occasion to warn those who attack journalists in the line of their duty with special mention of the attack on Western Regional Correspondent of Citi News ,Akwasi Agyei Annim who had been reporting on the galamsey menace and the Citi News crew.
He said some of these perpetrators have been arrested by the police and asked that those on the run,should be arrested and brought to book.
The Minister said the level of devastation in the country should let everybody stand up and fight galamsey for our survival.
“This is war for survival and everybody must get on board”.
Hon Armah-Kofi Buah said a call from the Western Regional Police Command that they had arrested seven (7) Chinese nationals and eight (8) accomplices involved in illegal mining and put before court for trial.
He said the Ministry had submitted a proposal to the judiciary through the Chief Justice with stronger assurance for the establishment of dedicated courts to fast track the prosecution of illegal mining related offences to “fast track justice”.
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister expressed grave concern over the wanton destruction of the very resources which threaten the very survival of the people and called on well-meaning Ghanaians to join the crusade to wage a relentless war on illegal mining to the end and will not spare anyone.
Hon Armah-Kofi Buah said decisively that ” we are moving from one forest reserves to the other, from one river body to the other to seize the excavators and hand them over to government for the District Road Improvement Project ( DRIP).
As part of the Ministry’s resolve, Hon Armah-Kofi Buah declared, ” we will fight to the end .
We will not spare anybody involved in illegal mining in the forest reserves and river bodies.
“Those who have doubts about our commitments to this fight, please trust us; we are going to fight to the end until we ensured that the right mining was done”.
The Minister said in the coming weeks,” you will see the Minister for Environment, Science and Technology in Parliament for a repeal of Act 24 section 63 of the Mining Law taking even the power of the President to grant anybody license to do illegal mining in forest reserves “.
“That Act is gone and it is not going to be any more “, the Minister said confidently.
Hon Armah-Kofi Buah said ” my message today having reclaimed this shelther belt on the River Offin,is to take back the other 43 forest reserves”.
To the galamseyers,he cautioned,” we are coming after you: your choice is to leave now or we arrest you and your co-conspirators as well as the chain of the people involved”.
He said “investigations have started tracking illegal miners all the way to their financiers and to those who sell or rent the excavators will all face the full rigours of the law”.
The Minister warned those we ho call him to plead when “we arrest their Chinese counterparts that you have done it before but this will not happen this time”.
By Kodwo Nyamekeh
