Inter-ministerial committee on galamsey was a total failure - Inusah Fuseini

Emmanuel Tornyi 12:10 - 15 April 2021

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"The <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/nana-addo-dissolves-inter-ministerial-committee-on-illegal-mining/sg9jge8">inter-ministerial committee</a> was a total failure. The chairman of the committee was not even invited to share his expertise at the forum which is ongoing. The President knowing it was a failure does not want to be associated with it that’s why a new platform is being created to deal with the situation," the former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Inusah Fusei...

According to him, the committee set up by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo lost the fight against illegal mining popularly referred to as galamsey.

In an interview on Accra-based Starr FM, he said "The use of the military isn't the be-all and end-all because they are human beings and can be compromised."

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on illegal mining was set up to oversee the implementation of the ban on all forms of small-scale mining and also see to the vetting of small-scale miners.

The secretariat has also been hit by alleged bribery and corruption in Anas Aremeyaw Anas' exposé on illegal mining.

Charles Bissue stepped down from the position after he was seen in the video documentary allegedly collecting bribes to facilitate the issuance of mining licenses.

Although he has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the police, he is still being investigated by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

Reports stated that the President has decided to move the fight against illegal mining from the Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation to the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry.

The committee was commissioned in March 2017 by President Akufo-Addo to reform artisanal and small-scale mining in the country.