Senior media practitioner Kojo Marfo has publicly dismissed claims regarding President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s commitment to combat illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
Speaking in an interview with Millicent Safo-Adu, Marfo questioned the effectiveness of various task forces established by the president, which included military, citizenry and police personnel, stating that despite these efforts, illegal mining persists.
Kojo Marfo highlighted the issuance of numerous mining licenses, urging citizens to verify whether illegal mining was indeed prohibited when these licenses were granted.
He said “I am sure you have seen the reports on the number of licenses issued. Those interested should verify whether illegal mining was banned in this country when those licenses were issued and ask themselves: was mining actually banned?”.
The Ghanaian government banned illegal mining in 2017, but it was a process that started earlier. Before 2016, several attempts were made to minimize illegal activities in the small-scale mining sector
However, it wasn’t until 2017 that the government took decisive action to arrest the situation and craft a path for sanitizing the small-scale mining regime. This was largely due to the dramatic plunge into dominant illegal mining (Galamsey) that led to widespread degradation of lands and pollution of water bodies.
Marfo also referenced a controversial police incident in Asawase, where five individuals were killed, asserting that the official narrative was misleading and related to internal disputes over galamsey activities.
“Do you remember sometime ago when five guys were killed in Asawase? We were told by the police that they were armed robbers who exchanged shots with the police”
“I said it then, and I still stand by it: all we were told were lies. It was about galamsey. They had misunderstandings among themselves regarding their work”, Kojo Marfo explained.
Again, He called on the government to clarify the status of police officers involved in that incident and questioned the rationale behind a substantial compensation payment to the victims’ families.
“Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who was then the Information Minister, should be asked about the whereabouts of these officers and why 2.5 billion in compensation was paid to the families of the deceased”.
Source : www.kumasimail.com /Ghana/Kwadwo Owusu
