The group said the President must dismiss the Committee following an exposé by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tiger Eye Pi team.
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Prosecute officials caught in Anas galamsey exposé - ASEPA to Martin Amidu
A pressure group known as the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to dissolve the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) tasked to combat the menace of galamsey in the country.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu
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Anas investigated the rot after Nana Addo launched 'Operation Vanguard', a military-police joint task force to combat the menace of illegal mining.
A presidential staffer and Secretary to the Committee, Charles Cromwell Bissue, has been fingered in the exposé.
In the latest work of Anas exposing corruption, Bissue in the video emerged as a facilitator for a company seeking to circumvent laid down processes to be given clearance for its mining operations.
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Bissue is seen receiving wads of cash to facilitate the speedy 'clearance' of a mining company in order that it can begin mining as soon as possible, and is heard in the video instructing his subordinates over the phone to "fast track" the processing of the company's documents.
Other security officers were also caught on tape receiving bribes to allow illegal miners to operate contrary to their core mandate to stop galamsey.
The presidential staffer after Anas premiered the video informed the President of his decision to step aside to allow investigations into the case.
But ASEPA, in a statement, said the Committee had failed the president and must be shut down.
The pressure group also recommended that all persons found in the exposé be handed over to the Special Prosecutor for appropriate action.
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Below is the full statement:
ASEPA CALLS ON PRESIDENT AKUFO ADDO TO DISSOLVE THE IMCIM FOLLOWING ANAS’ EXPOSE
ASEPA wishes to use this medium to call on President Akufo-Addo to as matter of urgency dissolve the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining(IMCIM) following the rot revealed by ace journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in his latest expose’ Galamsey Fraud.
In that expose’, top members of the IMCIM like the Secretary to the Committee is captured on video taking bribe from a supposed mining company to circumvent the laid down procedures for acquiring permits to mine.
Others include security personnel attached to the taskforce was also seen taking money to provide protection for people as they mine illegally and also to facilitate the acquisition of mining concessions.
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These audiovisual evidences provided by Anas by far confirm the allegations of some small scale miners who have made public accusations about how government has used the ban on small scale mining to take over their concessions and re-awarded those concessions to other individuals perceived to be close to the persons in government or those who are willing to part with huge sums of money.
If this is how the IMCIM has operated, then we believe the whole idea of setting up the Committee has failed totally and we therefore call on the President to immediately dissolve the committee.
We are also asking government to subject the Committee to a public audit by appointing a special Commission to probe the work of the IMCIM since its inception in 2017.
We also recommend that all persons found in the expose’ be handed over to the Special Prosecutor for appropriate action.
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Signed:
Mensah Thompson
Executive Director, ASEPA
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