President Akufo-Addo observing items exhibited during the National Consultative Dialogue on Small Scale Mining.
President Akufo-Addo yesterday took exception to the situation where one political grouping would appear to be giving tacit support to people doing illegal mining, popularly called galamsey, which is fast threatening the existence of the country’s water bodies, whilst another grouping takes the pains to curb the menace.
Speaking at the ongoing national consultative dialogue on small-scale mining, he said that to be able to fight the menace head-on, in order to protect the water bodies and the entire environment, all political parties must have a common voice, adding that it should not be left for one group to fight.
“We cannot have one part of the political divide campaigning for galamsey in the bush and the other waging an official fight against galamsey in the open,” President Akufo-Addo said when he launched the two-day forum in Accra.
National Consensus
The President was hopeful that the forum would result in a national policy backed by a national consensus and said he wants the consensus to be on a “sustainable method of mining the minerals in our land.”
“It is absolutely crucial that the deliberations of this consultative dialogue be candid and devoid of partisanship or narrow parochial interests,” the President said, adding that environmental activism in the country should not be the preserve of mainly foreign observers.
“It is the land of our birth, it is the land we inhabit, it is the land we named Ghana at independence 64 years ago, and we the Ghanaian people must be its best protectors. We must mean it when we say with pride…this is our land, it is dear to us, our fathers gave their blood so we would inherit it.”
He said that “when I call for a national conversation on galamsey which eventually has led to the holding of this dialogue on the theme ‘sustainable small-scale mining for national development’, it is not because I have any doubts about the need to protect our lands and our environment,” adding “it is because I want us to have a consensus on a sustainable method of mining the minerals in our lives.”
Instead, he said “we must demonstrate that we love our land and are capable of taking care of it ourselves,” insisting “we do not need foreigners to campaign for the protection of Ghanaian lands, our inheritance. We do not need special interest groups to campaign for the protection of Ghanaian soil for flora and fauna.
“We must however, come to the understanding that small-scale mining and the requirement to do away with the legalities in that sector should be beyond partisan politics. Some subjects simply cannot be part of our everyday politicking, and I urge this forum to insist that illegal small-scale mining and matters relating to it should be one of such issues requiring national effort.”
Law Enforcement
The President re-affirmed his commitment towards clamping down on illegal mining, saying, “I will not hesitate to act where the evidence is hard before the police. And I will do so irrespective of the standing of the person or persons involved.”
Jinapor View
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Jinapor, whose ministry is hosting the forum on behalf of the government, said the task ahead is arduous, looking at the level of destruction of the environment, but said with a common agenda it could be done.
“We will require a holistic honest national effort anchored on the integrity of action. We will require a candid collaborative and collective action,” he said, adding, “Whatever sets of measures that will emanate from the deliberations over the next two days, if approved by the government will be implemented diligently.”
In attendance were members of the Council of State, presidents of the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs, some Ministers of State, and all former Ministers for Lands and Natural Resources under the Fourth Republic.
Also present were all 16 regional ministers, heads of security agencies, president and members of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, actors in the mining industry, president and members of Small-Scale Miners Association, leadership and Members of Parliament, from Majority and Minority side of the House and representatives of all political parties that contested the 2020 presidential elections.
The rest were members of the diplomatic corps, members of academia, representatives of civil society organisations, and the media.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu