Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Inusah Fuseini says the government has failed to demonstrate commitment to the fight against illegal small-scale mining in the country.
His comment comes on the back of the government’s renewed commitment to the fight against illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resource, Abu Jinapor at a press conference said the government is adopting new strategies in the fight against illegal small-scale mining and enumerated some steps the government will take.
According to him, over one hundred and eighty people have been jailed and over two hundred are on trial for their involvement in illegal mining adding that the government will also deal with those behind the menace.
But, the former Lands Minister says the government has never acted on its words on the numerous promises made towards the fight against illegal mining since they came to power.
According to him, the government lacks the commitment to prosecute people who are engaged in illegality.
“Does it mean that all along they don’t know those who are financiers and kingpins of the galamsey. What is conspiracy, abetment and facilitating in our laws for? If you know that some people are those facilitating the commission of a crime, are they not guilty of that crime?
“For them to say that we are changing gear, it looks weird because we have all known and always known most of the young men who are in the galamsey sites are just workers. And because of the capital-intensive nature of the activity people have to sponsor and invest in that activity,” he told Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Starr Today Thursday.
He continued: “If you are a government and you know those who are the enablers of that activity and you sit and watch them, then you are now saying you are changing gear. If they (government) have admitted that they are now going after those people then they have been negligent or probably have not been committed to the fight against illegal small-scale mining.”
The former lawmaker also indicated that the government knows those behind the menace but has failed to go after them.
Ghana runs a risk of having a sick population in future and a food security challenge due to the increasing rate of harmful chemical residue found on food produce.
This is because of the contamination of soil and water beds with harmful chemicals through illegal mining activities-Galamsey and the wrong use of pesticides.
“If you should do an analysis, either microbial or physiochemical analysis on the produce on our farms, a lot of it is being contaminated,” said Mr Nlaliban Wujangi in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.
The Director for Food and Agriculture at the Chamber of Agribusiness who is also an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Focal Person, warned that the country’s Cocoa which is a major export earner also risked being rejected on the market if major interventions are not carried out to end the Galamsey menace.
He observed that, even though there was a withdrawal period to take away chemical residue on food stuff especially when fertilizer had been applied, the non-adherence with the period and the heavy concentration of harmful mining chemicals highly contaminated the food produce.
“Even when the rain falls it is not able to take out all the chemicals because of the high concentration of chemicals used for galamsey
He said the ongoing tests had suggested that the contamination of food produce which was thought of to be a problem predominated in mining areas has taken a national character due to the impact of illegal mining on the water bodies.
“It is a national issue as water finds its way, anywhere water originates and goes to, we have a risk there.
“We thought Galamseywas happening down south in the Western and Eastern region however, there is even some part of the Northern regions where there is some form of Galamsey,” he said.
He said the Chamber had made efforts to notify the Government through its representatives on various joint committees with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and participation in donor-funded programmes.
“One other thing we might end up doing very soon is calling an entire press conference purposely to address that issue,” he said.
He advocated a holistic approach to addressing the issue which would require the implementation of sustainable alternative livelihood programmes for persons involved in the practice.
The government has relaunched Operation Halt II to reinforce the war on illegal mining activities (galamsey).
In addition, the granting of mining licences by the Minerals Commission and other relevant bodies will now involve the inputs of chiefs, regional ministers and metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs).
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, made this known when he took his turn at the Ministers’ Press Briefing in Accra yesterday[October 13, 2022] to update the media on the fight against galamsey.
Operation Halt II
Originally launched in April 2021, Operation Halt II, made up of personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces, sought to remove all persons and mining equipment from water bodies and forest reserves in the country, including decommissioning and demobilising equipment where necessary.
Over the period, the team worked on major rivers, such as, Pra, Offin, Ankobra, Birim and Ayensu, as well as forest reserves in the country.
As a temporary measure, the team relaxed its operations when some of the rivers started showing signs of clearing up.
Resurgence
However, with the resurgence of galamsey activities across the country, the minister said the Operation Halt II was relaunched on October 11, this year, following a review of the earlier operation.
Giving more details, he said Operation Halt II would run alongside other measures being implemented by the ministry, such as the declaration of river bodies as red zones for mining, the suspension of reconnaissance and prospecting activities in forest reserves except in exceptional cases, and the ban on the manufacture, sale and use of changfan.
Others are the procurement of speed boats to patrol the rivers, the recruitment of river guards to support the protection of the rivers, the introduction of mercury-free gold Katchas, the establishment of 83 Small Scale Mining Committees in all mining districts in the country, the revamping of Community Mining Schemes, and the introduction of the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme which now engages about 80,000 people in alternative livelihood projects.
Sustainability
Mr Jinapor said the new Operation Halt II was well thought-through, and was ready to take care of the current resurgence of the galamsey menace, with funding secured to ensure its sustainability.
He said the operation was concurrently taking place in the Southern, Central and Northern Commands, and already, 20 excavators and scores of changfans and other mining equipment had been decommissioned.
According to the minister, the Operation Halt II team had been instructed to use their discretion whether to decommission or seize equipment, assuring that, that would be done without interference from any quarters.
He stated that the team would be held accountable for any lapses in their operation and, therefore, they were not supposed to take instructions from anyone, including him.
Mr Jinapor said the ministry had submitted to the Military High Command details of all licensed mining operations in the country to guide them in their operations, adding that the team would be assisted by mine inspectors and personnel from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to gather evidence for prosecution.
He said the government was committed to ensuring that anyone found culpable was made to face the full rigours of the law.
Throwing more light on the new licensing regime, Mr Jinapor said the decision followed a directive given by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after he had met with members of the National House of Chiefs on October 5, 2022, during which it became evident that for the government to win the fight against galamsey, chiefs must play a central role, particularly, in the granting of mining concessions and licences.
He said the decision was also taken with the conviction that because every galamsey site fell within the jurisdiction of a traditional authority, chiefs must play a key role in the granting of mining licences to help rid their respective jurisdictions of illegal small-scale mining.
Mr Jinapor said following the meeting with the members of the National House of Chiefs, “a lot of streamlining was being done”.
“Hence, the processes involving the Minerals Commission making recommendations in the granting of licences have been altered dramatically and that will mean the chiefs will now play a central role in the processes,” he stated.
Mr Jinapor, however, revealed that there were many stories making the rounds to suggest that there was a “disconnect among chiefs, the political leadership and security operatives”, observing that the development did not augur well for the efforts being made to halt galamsey.
The minister reiterated the fact that the war against illegal mining was a collective fight and not only for the government.
Constitution
While stressing that the Constitution vested mineral resources in the country in their natural state in the President to be held in trust for the people, he added that the President had delegated power to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to manage such resources.
He said a critical look at the process in simple terms regarding which entity was permitted to have a final say in terms of granting mining licences or concessions showed that it was the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
“But here we are talking about the involvement of traditional rulers in the fight against galamsey, yet we don’t seem to give them any active direct central role to play in the processes leading to the granting of concessions in many cases,” he intimated.
Mr Jinapor revealed that part of the concerns raised by chiefs at the meeting with the President was that they were usually not consulted on matters of the granting of licences, only to find people with licences to mine in their respective jurisdictions.
“They are not consulted or involved in the granting of licences, yet we are asking them to support us in our efforts to fight illegal mining,” the minister pointed out.
Education campaign
Touching on the public campaign against illegal mining and its negative impact on communities, he said his ministry was rolling out a national public campaign against illegal mining and its adverse effects on the environment and the health of the people.
“We have also rolled out advertisements on television and radio to educate the public on the dire consequences of illegal mining,” the minister said.
A stalwart of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Kwame Jantuah has asked the President to place a curfew in all mining areas as part of the fight against illegal small scale mining (Galamsey).
He suggested that the army should be deployed to enforce the curfew if it is done.
Contributing to a discussion on TV3’s New Day show with Roland Walker on Friday October 14, he said “There should be a curfew in galamsey areas, get our army there to enforce the curfew.”
He further called for a five-year ban to be placed on all mining activities.
“Ban small scale mining for five years. The people will lose jobs and so they are afraid to do it but you have to create jobs for them.”
His comments come at a time the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has said that the fight against galamsey is tough.
However, he said the government will not relent on its efforts in fighting the menace to protect the environment.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Thursday October 13, the Damongo Lawmaker said “It is going to be a tough fight but the Ghanaian people should be rest assured that we are fully committed to this fight and we are never going to relent in our efforts.
“I am very confident that if all of us work together in good faith, we take out partisan politics out of it and see this as a national canker or national issue as it truly is, and pull our weight together, we definitely will be able to protect our environment and protect our country, protect our forest, protect our land scape, protect our water bodies for ourselves and our children and future generations.”
He said he has not achieved the results he was looking for in the fight but the government is determined to win the battle against the menace.
“Since I took office I have made it a central feature of my presidency to lead in the efforts to rid our country of this menace which we all now call galamsey. It has not been popular and we have not got the result that I was looking for,” Mr Akufo-Addo said during a meeting with the National House of Chiefs and the Municipal, Metropolitan and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in Kumasi on Wednesday October 5.
He further told the National House of Chiefs that the task to protect the lands and the environment from the effect of Galamsey is a joint responsibility between the government and the traditional authorities.
Mr Akufo-Addo explained that 80 per cent of the lands in Ghana are in the custody of the chiefs.
This means they have a role to play in protecting the resource, he said.
He said “80 per cent of the lands in this country continue to be under your custody, much of it having been acquired through the blood and sacrifices of your ancestors. The reminder of 20 per cent which I hold in trust of the people of Ghana, derived from state acquisition from you. What this means is that ultimately, the welfare of the state of the lands is our joint responsibility, although by statute the minerals in the soil belong to the president in trust for the people.”
The chiefs on their part assured Mr Akufo-Addo that they are solidly behind his administration to apply appropriate measures against all persons involved in Galamsey in the country.
President of the National House of Chiefs, Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyeb indicated that galamsey is having a negative effect on the environment and also threatens revenue mobilsation in the country hence, their resolve to support the President and government in fighting it.
He said “your relentless war against forest degradation and illegal mining in Ghana is of great importance to Ghanaians especially we the chiefs.
“The effects of illegal mining on the environment threaten the survival of water bodies , farmlands, cocoa industry and even encouraging school dropouts, this undermins the revenue mobilsation drive in the country.
“In view of this development [the Chiefs] are solidly behind your administration to apply the appropriate sanctions against persons who are engaged in the practice illegal mining irrespective of their status.”
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has stated that a statement by the sector Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor about the role of the Ghana Armed Forces in the fight against illegal mining (galamsey) has been misreported by a section of the media.
In a statement dated Friday, October 14, 2022, the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ministry said the the statement made by the minister at a press conference on Thursday had been misconstrued in some media reports.
“The attention of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has been drawn to publications in a section of the media to the effect that the military is to be blamed or held responsible for any failures in the fight against illegal mining. These publications attribute this comment to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, during his Press Update on the fight against illegal mining at the Ministry of Information on Thursday, 13th October, 2022.
“While the Ministry welcomes and commends the Ghanaian media for their interest and enthusiasm in matters involving illegal mining, for the avoidance of doubt, the Minister did NOT say the military is to be blamed or held responsible for any failures in the fight against illegal mining. What the Minister said was to the effect that the military has been put fully in charge of the operations on the ground. Accordingly, they are to carry out their mission without interference from any person whatsoever. They are to take instructions only from the military high command on matters relating to the ongoing operations, and in accordance with their established command and control structures,” the ministry said.
“The above comments have, obviously, been misunderstood by a section of the media,” the statement added.
We will fish out, prosecute galamsey kingpins – Abu Jinapor
The ministry emphasised its confidence in the Ghana Armed Forces in leading the fight against Galamsey, saying it has “has absolute confidence in the professionalism, Capability and integrity of the Ghana Armed Forces to accomplish this mission.”
At the press conference on Thursday, the land’s minister outlined various measures by the government to deal with the canker of illegal mining.
Mr Jinapor told the press that the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo remains resolute in the fight against galamsey, which is threatening several of Ghana’s water and river bodies.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said he is not afraid to hold the so-called powerful people behind illegal small-scale mining, otherwise known as ‘galamsey’, accountable.
According to him, the ongoing trial of alleged ‘galamsey’ kingpin, Aisha Huang, who many have said has connections in high places in government, is a testament to his resolve to curb the menace of illegal small-scale mining.
Speaking in an Adom FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Jinapor added that the fact that the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, has taken over the case of Aisha Huang shows the seriousness of the government in the fight against ‘galamsey’.
“With all the sincerity and condor that I can marshal out of my being, I’m totally blind to the so-called powerful people. Who are those powerful people?
“Take for example, Aisha Huang. When her issue came up, what most people said was that nothing would happen to her, she would not be prosecuted because she is highly connected to the highest level, she has sex tapes and all that. In the end, we took her to court, and we slapped the most punitive charges against her.
“We are prosecuting her in a very spirited manner. Those of you who understand the country’s laws know that for the Attorney General himself to be prosecuting this matter of Aisha Huang tells you the importance the government places on it,” he said in Twi.
Samuel Abu Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Damongo, added that the AG has even secured a remand until the determination of the case of Aisha Huang, which means that the alleged ‘galamsey’ kingpin will be in the custody of the police until the court provides its judgement.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, has reaffirmed the government’s unwavering commitment to the fight against illegal small-scale mining.
He warned that any individual engaged in or funding illegal small-scale mining would face the full rigours of the law.
The Minister, who was briefing the press in Accra on Thursday on the renewed efforts in the military operations, also known as Operation Halt II, said the government would prosecute all persons engaged in this menace.
“Under the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995, the punishment for foreigners engaged in illegal mining is 20 years imprisonment, plus a fine of not less than 1.2 million Ghana Cedis, plus deportation after serving the sentence.
And for Ghanaians, the minimum punishment is 15 years imprisonment and a fine of
GHC120,000.00,” he stated.
The Minister indicated that Operation Halt II would continue to support measures put in place to ensure that river bodies and forests are rid of illegal miners such as the continuous declaration of river bodies as red zones for mining, suspensions of reconnaissance and prospecting activities in Forest Reserves and the procurement of speed boats to patrol the river
bodies.
Mr Abu Jinapor said he joined the Attorney-General in court for the prosecution of four Chinese nationals involved in illegal mining, including Aisha Huang.
“The Office of the Attorney-General is working to ensure expeditious trial in these matters and if found culpable, they will be made to face the full rigours of the law,” he stated.
According to the Minister, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, met with the
National House of Chiefs and urged them to rally behind the government in this fight.
“This is because, every galamsey site, falls within the jurisdiction of traditional authority. And if the traditional authorities stand with us and we can come to grips with this matter.
“The President also met with MMDCEs and has charged them to ensure that they rid their jurisdiction of illegal small-scale mining,” he added.
He disclosed that the government has rolled out advertisements on television and radio, to educate the general public about the dire consequences of illegal mining.
“So that people like the 62-year-old man who sold his cocoa farm to galamseyers for GHC30,000.00 will appreciate the consequences of their actions on the nation and future generations,” he emphasized.
Former New Juaben North Constituency Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Boateng-Agyemang, has lashed out at the party’s former National Chairman, Freddie Blay, over his involvement in the case of four foreign nationals facing trial for illegal mining activities.
Three Chinese nationals and a Vietnamese national are facing trial in Accra High Court as accomplices of alleged galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang.
During the trial on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, Lucy Ekeleba Blay announced in court that she was holding brief as counsel for the defence in the place of the former NPP National Chairman.
This has led to widespread criticism over the decision of Freddie Blay to represent the accused persons in the face of the government’s fight against galamsey.
Sharing such sentiments on Top FM’s Final Point hosted by Kwabena Owusu Agyemeng, the former constituency chairman accused Freddie Blay of making a mockery of the government’s fight against galamsey.
He thus called on Freddie Blay to render an apology for his actions and withdraw his services as counsel for the accused persons charged with engaging in illegal small-scale mining.
“How many people have had the opportunity of being a national chairman? And the benefits that you have got from the NPP as a party; from parliament as a second deputy speaker, as first deputy speaker and as a national chairman. God has been faithful to you. If he is listening to me now by tomorrow morning, he and his partners must issue a statement to apologise and withdraw from the case,” he said.
He emphasised that the fight against galamsey is a collective fight which requires every official to play a role and not be left to only the president to deal with.
“We need to address issues right; leadership is not only the presidency. Everyone has a role to play, so if we focus our expectations on one person, we have failed. That is why I allude that fighting galamsey is like fighting drug barons trading in cocaine,” he added.
Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go, and Zhang Zhipeng have been charged as accomplices of Aisha Huang who is also facing charges in a separate trial on galamsey charges.
However, for some critics, the former NPP national chairman’s representation of the accused persons is a decision that lacks discretion considering the fight against galamsey and its impact on Ghana’s water and forest bodies.
Government has directed that, henceforth, no mining concession or licence should be granted to any applicant unless the Paramount Chief of the area is formally consulted to seek his input.
Additionally, the regional ministers and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) of that particular jurisdiction should also be formally consulted to bring their views to bear on the granting of mining concessions to any individual or company.
Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources announced this at a media briefing in Accra on Thursday, 13 October 2022, to update the public on new measures being implemented by the Government to combat illegal small-scale mining, otherwise known as “galamsey”.
In view of the President’s directive, Mr Jinapor has issued a Ministerial Fiat to the Minerals Commission to halt all processes leading to the recommendation for granting of mining concessions and licences until the Commission has sought the inputs of the aforementioned authorities.
The directive, the Minister said, had become very necessary to enable the traditional and local authorities to play a central role in the fight against illegal small-scale mining, which had wreaked havoc on the environment and water bodies.
Mr Jinapor stated that when the President met the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi recently, the chiefs raised concerns about them being neglected regarding issuance of mining licences and granting of mining concession to individuals.
Therefore, whenever there was illegal mining within their traditional areas, they had no power to stop it because they did not play any meaningful and active part in the granting of the licences and concessions.
With the enforcement of the Ministerial Fiat, traditional rulers and MMDCEs would play a central role in the fight against galamsey.
The Minister highlighted gamut of measures implemented by the Government so far to stop the galamsey menace including the procurement of speed boats to patrol rivers, training of river guards, forest reserves declared as “red zones” for mining and distribution of mercury-free gold processing machines (gold kachas) to small-scale miners.
The others are the collaboration between the Lands Ministry and the Attorney-General’s Office to prosecute illegal miners, both Ghanaians and foreigners, rolling out of Community Mining Schemes for local people, recruitment and engagement of about 80,000 people for alternative livelihood programme, frequent operations by the military (Operation Halt) to mining sites to arrest and burn excavators belonging to illegal miners and setting up of 83 district mining committees to oversee mining at the district level.
It has also launched another Operation Halt II campaign being spearheaded by the Military High Commands in the southern, middle belt and northern commands, which would be sustained until galamsey is brought to a satisfactory situation.
The government has, therefore, allocated significant funds and logistics to the new military operation, Mr Jinapor stated.
He, thus, called for collaboration with all stakeholders and change of attitude by all Ghanaians to help in fighting the menace.
The General Secretary of Convention Peoples Party (CPP), Nana Yaa Jantuah, has called for the immediate resignation of the past Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, as the board chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
She explained that Blay had to resign because his law firm is representing the accomplices of the alleged illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang, who the government, which he is part of, is prosecuting.
Speaking in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Jantuah berated Freddie Blay for defending Aisha Huang’s accomplices.
He reiterated that the action of the former NPP chairman is ethically wrong and amounts to a clear case of conflict of interest.
“This is a man who is part of the governance of an organization in the NPP government and his law firm is defending galamsey. What do they seek to achieve? Are they just playing?
“I thought he had even left GNPC, but he is still there. Being the board chair is not of GNPC, it means you are part of the government. It is the people who are in government who become board chairmen because it is assumed and believed that they believe in the agenda of the government in power. That is why they put them there, to direct governance as board chairman.
“You are in government and your firm is defending a government that the president of this country has put his job on the line to stop. I think he should resign as board chair of GNPC. I don’t know why he is still there because it is a conflict of interest. You can eat your cake and have it,” she said.
She indicated that she is very disheartened that a member of the government is supporting something that is killing Ghanaians and destroying the country’s lands and water bodies.
Freddie Blay, who is the immediate past chairman of the NPP, has come under heavy criticism after it emerged that he is the main lawyer for Huang’s four co-accused in a case related to galamsey.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, in court on Tuesday (October 11), said that she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
Dr Kofi Amoah has charged the powers that be to go the whole nine yards in dealing with persons and companies that flout the nation’s laws on mining.
The astute businessman and economist was reacting to news that structures and machinery belonging to Akonto Mining had been burned by government officials because it had no permit and thus was illegally mining in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.
In a tweet shared on Thursday, Dr Amoah wrote, “No More Tin “gods” in Ghana. AKONTA MINING must be prosecuted for engaging in illegal mining in an area it had no permit. Burning of structures must not be the end but the beginning of having the laws of Ghana to work Hon Jinapor must show his mettle now!
Akonta Mining which has been in the news lately is owned by New Patriotic Party, NPP, Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Bosiako, alias Chairman Wontumi.
According to reports, the destruction of the properties took place on Wednesday, October 12, 2022.
Pictures shared by myjoyonline.com showed several structures made of wood and roofing sheets burning along with some amount of machinery believed to be used in the firm’s operations.
Akonta Mining, which Wontumi insists was into regular mining and not illegal small-scale mining, that is galamsey, was operating from the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve until recently when the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources ordered a halt to their operations.
No More Tin “gods” in Ghana
AKONTA MINING must be prosecuted for engaging in illegal mining in an area it had no permit
Burning of structures must not be the end but the beginning of having the laws of Ghana to work
Hon Jinapor must show his mettle now! https://t.co/XkfRxuxlo2
— CitizenKofi (@amoah_citizen) October 13, 2022
The operation was thus undertaken almost 24-hours after deputy Lands Minister, Benito Owusu-Bio had toured the affected forest reserve.
In a statement issued on September 30 and signed by minister Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Ministry said the firm did not have license to operate from “the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Amenfi West Municipality in the Western Region.”
The ruling government has had a difficult time fighting the illegal mining menace which threatens the food and water security of the country.
According to experts, if the rate and scale of the galamsey destruction is not halted, Ghana will have to import water in the next few years due to the obliteration of the various water bodies.
The Media Coalition Against Galamsey has called on the Government to order small scale and surface mining activities to stop immediately to allow water bodies and forests to begin to restore.
The government is also encouraged to bring sanity to all surface mining activities in the country.
The Coalition in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, also admonished government to ensure that the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended, was enforced without fear or favour.
“Powerful people involved in Galamsey activities in the country should be exposed and sanctioned to serve as a deterrent.
“Arrest, investigate and prosecute everyone involved in the illegality, including the Akonta Mining Ltd and its Directors, Bernard Boasiako and Kwame Antwi, for illegally mining in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve as well as breaching (Section 99(6) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by mining very close along the banks of Tano River,” it said.
The Coalition also encouraged the government to sack any Municipal Chief Executive or District Chief Executive in whose areas of jurisdiction illegal mining had taken place and was still ongoing.
The government was also entreated to sack ministers and their deputies who had a responsibility to regulate the mining sector but had failed and explore the provision of gainful, alternative employment to persons engaged in ‘galamsey’.
The Coalition also urged the government to ensure that the above punitive measures were implemented before Farmers’ Day this year as such activities directly impacted adversely the efforts of farmers.
The Coalition according to the statement had studied the ‘galamsey’ phenomenon from all possible viewpoints and had concluded that there was and could be no conceivable justification for illegal mining to continue in the country.
It observed that the government and other relevant stakeholders had not demonstrated enough commitment and leadership towards the fight against illegal mining activities.
“We are currently in a worse situation than when we started. For example, the annual average turbidity levels at the Daboase headworks on the Pra river has worsened from 1,180 in 2020, 2,588 in 2021 and 2634 in 2022.
“In view of this, the Media Coalition Against Galamsey believes that urgent and radical measures need to be adopted by government that will result in positive change of the state of our water bodies and preservation of our environment for our survival and that of the future generation,” the statement said.
The Coalition also called on well-meaning Ghanaians and Civil Society Organisations to join hands with the media to help mount continued pressure on the nation’s leaders, both political and traditional to help save Ghana’s water bodies and preserve her environment for future generations.
“Losing this war is not an option. Irresponsible and unsustainable mining is an existential threat and should not be countenanced,” it added.
The Media Coalition Against Galamsey is made up of all media organisations in Ghana – public and private electronic and print media.
A total of 187 persons charged with different mining offences have been convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in the Eastern Region since 2017.
They include 29 Nigeriens, seven Nigerians and three Chinese.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame told journalists that prosecution was conducted by the Eastern Region Office of the Attorney-General headed by Chief State Attorney, Mrs Emily Addo-Okyireh.
Mr Dame said since the designation of the High Court 3 and Circuit Court B, in Koforidua as courts to deal with illegal mining cases by the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, the Office of the Attorney-General prosecuted all cases on illegal mining brought to its attention.
He said most of the cases were tried in Circuit Court B, Koforidua presided over by Mrs Mercy Adei-Kotey, now a Justice of the High Court.
The Attorney General said that most of the accused were tried and sentenced under the old section 99 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
The Section 99(1) of Act 703 prescribed a penalty of a minimum fine of three thousand penalty units or imprisonment for a term of not more than five years for the offence of buying or selling minerals without a licence.
For the offence of undertaking a small scale mining operation without a licence or acting in contravention of a provision of Act 703 in respect of which an offence is created, section 99(2) of Act 703 stipulated a penalty of a minimum fine of one thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not more than three years.
Mr Dame said in spite of that provision, prosecutors succeeded in getting custodial sentences imposed on the accused in 40 out of the 48 cases being prosecuted, with the court exercising discretion to impose a fine in eight of the cases.
Under the new law, Mr Dame noted that 33 of the convicted persons including 11 foreigners were convicted and sentenced under the new Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995) between August 2021 and September 2022 and are currently serving various prison terms of 15 years, 20 years and 18 years together with fines imposed in the various cases in which they were convicted.
Mr Dame, however, expressed displeasure with the decision of the Circuit Court to impose sentences between three years and five years on the accused in five of the cases involving the trial of 47 persons, which were filed before the passage of Act 995 but which were determined after the Act had come into force on August, 19, 2019,
This, he said, was contrary to the law as Act 995 substituted the punishment regime provided for under Act 703 with a new punishment regime which increased the penalty for engaging in illegal mining operations and illegal trading in minerals.
In the view of the Attorney-General, the substitution of the former section 99 of Act 703 with a new section 99 under Act 995 implied that a court of law engaged with the conduct of a case pending before it, was obliged to apply the new penalties provided for by the law rather than applying the old penalties existing under the law which was no longer in force.
The Attorney-General indicated that of the 48 cases tried in the Eastern Region since 2017, in respect of which convictions have been secured, only one is on appeal.
He said that there were currently about 43 new cases involving the trial of about 250 persons including Chinese at Circuit Court B, Koforidua.
The Attorney-General said an update on the prosecution of illegal mining cases in other regions, particularly, Ashanti, Western and Greater-Accra Regions will be provided in due course.
Director of Legal Affairs for the National Democratic Congress, Abraham Amaliba has advised the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman, Freddie Blay to recuse himself from defending Chinese illegal miners in court.
The former Chairman is representing some Chinese nationals standing trial for their alleged involvement in illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey in the country.
Critics say Mr. Blay’s move defeats the government’s effort in fighting the menace which has left many water bodies and forest reserves destroyed.
Commenting on the issue on Starr Today with Joshua Kodjo Mensah, the NDC’s legal director indicated that Mr. Blay should not be seen as compounding issues for the government as it wages war against the galamsey menace.
“So for the sake of the people of this country who are also fighting the galamsey menace,let me not involve myself in the matter. Sometimes your conscience should tell you what you should do.
“What has even compounded the issue is that in this whole saga of galamsey, the government officials have been fingered to be engaging in it. That is a new dimension.
“Our fight against galamsey, we are now seeing that names of appointees have been mentioned. Then you (Freddie Blay) compound the problem for the government by defending those who have been mentioned as accomplices,” Mr. Amaliba stated.
He continued: “I think he is a senior lawyer, it is not always that you follow money. He will get his money alright but his image will be tarnished.
“I have done similar cases and where I feel that the people see my services will create the wrong impression I’ve given those cases to colleagues, who are not in the same situation that I find myself.”
The NDC legal director further added that Mr. Blay should hand over the case to any of his lawyers who are not connected to the NPP to handle it.
“Don’t forget Nkrabea Effah is also there as a lawyer and you are also there as lawyer and the government officials have been fingered as contributing to the menace,” he said.
According to Rockstone, though the activity whether good or bad has become a livelihood for most people, some sacrifices ought to be made.
“Looking at what’s happening to the environment so some sacrifices have to be made. I feel for the people whose livelihood depend on it. It is something rather embarrassing,” he lamented.
Suggesting ways to curb the menace, Reggie Rockstone said “I don’t have all the answers but I think there is something really wrong. First of all we need to raise the level of patriotism, we need t love our country more to understand that what is going on is not the best.”
He however noted that the blame can’t be shifted to a single government.
“Per where we are now. We must put a stop to it, because it will not go well with us. Lets stop it a see the way forward,” he said.
He thus asked persons involved in the menace to take a cue from the prosecution of Aisha Huang.
“This is not a time where we can choose and pick and say this person is a journalist so she cannot be touched or be touched or this person is a politician and therefore, the person is shielded or this person is on government or this person is a businesswoman.
“Nobody will be shielded. We are going to go about without fear or favour and the prosecution of Aisha Huang should be a clear testimony and should send a clear signal to those who are determined to carry on with this menace.
I should call that way that we will come after them and come after them ruthlessly,” he warned.
Mr Jinapor thus asked the Ghanaian people to have full assurance in the government to deal effectively with the canker.
To him, the government will deploy all the arsenal it has at its disposal in this fight.
According to him, this will be done ruthlessly.
“Well, I want to emphasise that the commitment of the government to the fight against this canker [Galamsey] is total and unflinching and all the various tools we have to enable us to come to grips of this illegal mining issue will be rolled out ruthlessly.”
Chinese National, Aisha Huang is in court over her involvement in some galamsey activities.
Her present charges include two of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of mineral and four others; including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.
But prior to this, Aisha Huang had been in court in 2017, over some charges including undertaking a mining operation at Bepotenten in the Ashanti Region between 2015 and 2017 without license contrary to Section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703, as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.
The second accusation was facilitating the participation of four Chinese; Gao Jin Cheng, 45; Lu Qi Jun, 39; Haibin Gao, 26; Zhang and Zhang Pen, 23, to mine at Bepotenten without a license. This was an offence because she employed foreign nationals contrary to Section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.
Aisha Huang was accused of providing excavators to small-scale mining companies around February 2015 to May 2017, without a valid license from the Mineral’s Commission.
The first case was however dismissed by the prosecution after a nolle prosequi was filed by the state.
She was said to have been expatriated to her home country afterwards.
With the case back in court, government, headed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, have said they will do all in their power to ensure that the case is fairly heard and the accused persons duly prosecuted if found guilty.
Meanwhile, it has been noted that all lawyers who have sat in for Aisha at the various points of her case are members of the ruling government.
In this piece, GhanaWeb takes a look at all 3 lawyers from the ruling New Patriotic Party who have defended Aisha Huang in court:
Bernard Owiredu Donkor:
Bernard Owiredu Donkor was lawyer for Aisha Huang during her case in court in 2017.
As a member of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Donkor was a 2020 parliamentary candidate for Akwatia in the Eastern Region contesting against 3 others; Ernest Yaw Kumi, Robert Boateng Ampratwum and Mercy Adu Gyamfi.
He is a private legal practitioner and electoral coordinator for Kusi electoral area, Mr Donkor holds a BSc Chemistry from the University of Ghana.
In 2009, he enrolled at the University of Ghana Law Faculty, graduating with a Bachelor of Law (LLB) in 2011. He entered the Ghana School of Law the same year and was called to the Bar in 2013.
He also holds a Certificate in Insurance Claims and Re-Insurance from the National Insurance College.
The multilingual lawyer also worked briefly as Quality Assurance Manager at a food processing company in Tema before pursuing Law.
He has been involved in other high-profile cases including the Kwabenya Police shooting case, the SSNIT OBS case, among others. He is currently a retainer lawyer for many entities, including the Denkyembour District Assembly.
Government fully committed to bringing Aisha Huang, others to book – Lands Minister
Ellis Owusu Fordwouh:
Messer Ellis Owusu Fordwuoh has also been mentioned by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, as one of the lawyers who represented Aisha Huang in court in 2017.
He is a known member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and a retired Commissioner of Police.
He is also a former Director of National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) formally the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
He is also a farmer at Kwaafokrom, a cocoa farming community in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Nkrabeah Effah Dartey:
He is said to have taken over Aisha Huang’s case in 2018 and was present in court when government filed its nolle prosequi discharging Aisha Huang and her accomplices in 2018 December.
Nkrabeah Effah Dartey is the current lawyer defending Aisha Huang in court.
New Patriotic Party stalwart, Captain (Rtd) Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, on Wednesday, September 14, 2022, showed up at the Accra Circuit Court 9 to represent Aisha Huang and rose for the accused persons.
As a politician, Captain Effah-Dartey, who resigned from the Ghana Armed Forces in 1983, represented the people of Berekum Constituency as a Member of Parliament for two terms between 2000 and 2008.
He also worked as a Deputy Minister for Interior over the period.
Having been away from active politics, Captain Effah Dartey is now operating his private law firm.
Meanwhile, Freddie Blay, former National Chairman of the NPP is lawyer for the four other persons in court with Aisha over illegal mining activities.
We are ready to prosecute alleged galamsey kingpin – Attorney General.
The 3 Chinese Nationals and a Vietnamese National are standing trial for their various roles in illegal small scale mining in the country.
The three (Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi) are facing the charge of engaging in illegal mining activities in the country, while Aisha Huang has been charged with mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals.
Aisha is also facing four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.
A fourth suspect, Vietnamese national, Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen, is however being charged for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
Frederick Worsemao Armah Blay, popularly called Freddie Blay, is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament in Ghana and served as the First Deputy Speaker in the Fourth Parliament of Ghana.
He lost his seat in the general elections held on 7 December 2008 to Armah Kofi Buah of the NDC. He was a member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) but resigned to join the New Patriotic Party after being criticized by some CPP stalwarts for not campaigning for the CPP flagbearer Paa Kwesi Nduom, instead endorsing NPP’s presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo.
After joining the NPP, he stood for and got elected to the post of Vice Chairman of the party in April 2014. After the party expelled its Chairman Paul Afoko, it appointed Blay as its acting Chairman. He stood for and was elected as substantive Chairman of the party at an NPP party national conference in Koforidua that took place from 7 to 8 July 2018.
In the prelude to the Chairmanship race, a lot of controversies were generated when Blay promised to and eventually bought 275 buses for the 275 constituencies of the party for a purported cost of 11 million dollars. The opposition asked for an investigation.
Blay’s opponent in the election called it vote-buying. Blay stated that the buses were bought with a loan facility from the Universal Merchant Bank to be run by State Transport Company on the behalf of the NPP’s constituents.
He was also appointed to the position of Board Chairman for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation GNPC.
Lands Minister defends Mireku Duker over galamsey allegations
He is currently the Senior Partner at Blay and Associates.
He is also the board chairman and majority shareholder of Western Publications Limited, publishers of the Daily Guide newspaper, the flagship of the Group, Business Guide, News-One, and Young Blazers.
Chinese National En Huang, popularly known in Ghana as Aisha Huang who is standing trial for engaging in galamsey, and her four accomplices will continue to be in custody after the trial judge, Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo, refused a bail application made by the lawyers for the accused.
Aisha Huang, Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng were remanded into the custody of the National Investigation Bureau pending the final determination of their case on November 24, 2022.
In court on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, when Aisha Huang’s lawyer who is also a one-time Presidential candidate for the governing NPP, Captain Nkrabea Effah Dartey, rose to move an application for bail, the trial judge quickly stopped him and indicated that she will still refuse the application for bail.
“My mind has not changed; you can make the application and I’ll still refuse you,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo told Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
Also, the judge refused a similar application made on behalf of the four others who are now being represented by a former NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
“These people are foreigners, we do not have sufficient financial or social ties within the jurisdiction of this court and as we know, in this country people usually do not need any passport to exit if they are minded to leave and considering the severity of the punishment the accused persons will suffer if found guilty. I have a sufficient belief that when granted bail, they will not appear before the court to stand trial,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo stressed.
The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.
Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state’s readiness to expeditiously dispose off the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.
He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.
The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, on Tuesday, told an Accra High Court that, the state has evidence to prove that some four foreigners charged as accomplices of galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang were indeed engaged in illegal mining activities.
The Attorney General, during proceedings on October 11, 2022, told the court that the evidence gathered by the state against the suspects include five receipts issued to the foreign nationals as proof of purchase of small-scale mining sites.
According to the Attorney General, the suspects were engaged in criminality as the laws of Ghana bar foreigners from engaging in small-scale mining.
The four suspects are made up of three Chinese nationals; Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi, as well as a Vietnamese national, identified as Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen.
They are all facing a provisional charge of engaging in small scale-mining without a licence, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
However, the Vietnamese national is facing a separate charge for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
The three Chinese nationals have all pleaded not guilty to their charge while the court was compelled to defer the plea of the fourth suspect due to the absence of an interpreter.
Responding to the prosecution’s evidence against the suspects, their lawyer, Lucie Ekelebe Blay who was holding brief for Freddie Blay challenged the substance of the receipt.
According to the lawyer for the accused persons, the supposed purchase of mining sites by her clients did not materialise as they were duped in the process.
Her argument nonetheless was deemed as enough grounds to prove the prosecution’s case according to the Attorney General.
In his response to the defence lawyer, Godfred Yeboah Dame maintained that the suspects breached the law by their attempt to own a mining concession as the law prohibits foreigners from engaging in small scale mining.
The court, citing various factors such as the nature of the alleged offence committed by the suspects, their flight risk possibility and the severity of punishment if they are found guilty, denied the four bail till the end of their trial.
The case against the four has been adjourned to Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
Aisha Huang
The state’s case against alleged galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang was called after that of her alleged accomplices was adjourned.
Presiding Judge Lydia Osei Marfo, during a sitting on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, refused the plea of her lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, after the latter argued that his client deserved bail.
According to the judge, all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including his client’s flight risk, remain and will not be changed.
She added that his constant presence in court with his client would be the only way to ensure the case is heard accordingly for the determination of his client’s fate.
State Prosecutor Godfred Dame, on his part, reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring the case is duly heard and that the accused are prosecuted if found guilty.
Aisha Huang is in court over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals, four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license.
She is also facing four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022.
Her case has since been adjourned to October 24, 2022, for case management.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is of the view that justice will be served in the matter involving the state versus Aisha Huang and four others in a case involving illegal small-scale mining activities.
This according to the party is despite the fact that lawyers affiliated with it are representing the accused persons.
Speaking on Accra-based Joy FM, the party’s Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah maintained that the court will at all times deal with evidence put before it by parties to the case.
He contended further that it was within the right of an accused person to get legal representation in court and consequently it was also right for the NPP-affiliated lawyers to render professional services to such persons.
“If it is a matter of conscience then we should say that there shouldn’t be legal representation for criminals or for somebody who has killed somebody or is alleged to have killed somebody. As conscience will dictate, we should all abhor such behavior and therefore no lawyer as matter of conscience should want to defend any such act
“I don’t think there will be any miscarriage of justice because the lawyers in the case are NPP related or have affiliations with the New Patriotic Party. The idea is that every client deserves a representation.
“Our laws allows for that, so the client have exercised their right to have legal representation and those happens to be people affiliated with the NPP. I don’t think that necessarily changes the rules of the court which is evidence,” Ahiagbah said.
It emerged that former NPP Chairman, Freddie Blay, is the main lawyer for Aisha Huang’s accomplices namely Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng, in the prosecution.
Aisha Huang together with her four other accomplices made a court appearance yesterday October 11 for the state to continue with their prosecution.
Private attorney Lucy Ekeleba Blay said in court that she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices. Another NPP affiliated lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Darteh is representing Aisha Huang.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Godfred Dame has indicated his readiness to fast-track the prosecution of Aisha Huang for her past and previous crimes.
Ms. Huang and her accomplices have been remanded into custody until November 24, 2022 following the judge’s refusal to grant them bail.
A former national chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, says his law firm is ready to defend the four accomplices of Aisha Huang because they are innocent.
He said they have no reason to believe or act otherwise, adding that the four Chinese nationals deserve full legal representation in court.
“They came to instruct us and we as professionals, we have sworn an oath to defend our clients to the best of our knowledge and ability and that is exactly what we are doing in accordance with the Constitution of this country.
“They are not guilty. They’ve been brought before the court, they’ve pleaded not guilty and are being defended,” Mr Blay said in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday.
According to him, the four accused persons may have a relationship with Aisha Huang because in 2017 they bought a supermarket from her.
That, in any way, does not suggest they are illegal miners and should not have fair legal representation or defence, Mr Blay stressed.
“Our firm is defending these clients; they’ve told us their story. Maybe the prosecution has been told some other story and that is why we are before the court to defend them,” he added.
“We are a firm of lawyers, we take our instructions from our clients based on the story they’ve told us which we have no reason to believe otherwise.”
“I don’t know whether you are saying that at a time like this when people are accused or arraigned before court, they should not be entitled to any defence,” he retorted.
NPP justification
Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has justified the decision by its former national chairman, Freddie Blay, to defend four accomplices of ‘galamsey’ queen Aisha Hunag in court.
According to the Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah, people’s political affiliations should not deny anyone the right to justice and fair representation in court.
“I don’t think there would be any miscarriage of justice because the lawyers in the case are NPP related or have affiliation with the New Patriotic Party.
The idea is that every client deserves a representation; our laws allow for that so the clients have exercised their right to have a legal representation,” he told JoyNews in an interview.
What happened?
A feeling of surprise erupted in the Criminal Court 5 on Tuesday when it was announced that former NPP National Chairman Freddie Blay will be representing four accomplices of Aisha Huang who are being held by the state for their involvement in illegal mining.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, announced in court that she was holding brief for Freddy Blay in the case of the four accomplices of Aisha Huang namely; Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
Aisha Huang herself is being represented by NPP stalwart, Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
This move by Mr Blay has sparked discussions among the public as many say it suggests a lack of principles and defeats government’s fight against the canker.
“Those [lawyers] happen to be people affiliated with the NPP; I don’t think that necessarily changes the rules of the court… I think that we should pay attention and see that the due process is occasioned and the outcome is fair to our country,” Richard Ahiagbah noted.
The High Court, on Tuesday, denied two applications for bail by lawyers for the Chinese illegal mining kingpin.
The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, and the Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, were in court to lead government’s efforts in prosecuting Aisha Huang and others being held for illegal mining.
The MP for North Tongu Constituency Honaroble Samuel Okudzeto has added his voice to Freddie Blay representing Aisha Huang in her galamsey activities against the state.
In a post shared on his official Facebook page on Wednesday, 12th October 2022, he wrote;
“Those who know what I know won’t be the least surprised that former NPP National Chairman, Mr. Freddie Blay is the new lawyer for Aisha Huang’s accomplices.
After her first arrest, Aisha Huang’s earlier lawyers of choice were Mr. Bernard Owiredu Donkor and Mr. Ellis Owusu-Fordwouh.”
According to Okudzeto, Messrs Donkor and Owusu-Fordwouh appeared for Aisha Huang and her other four accused Chinese nationals on numerous occasions at Criminal High Court 4 from July 21, 2017, before His Lordship Justice Charles Edward Ekow Baiden until that knavish January 2018 Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra meeting where the powers that be strangely issued strict instructions about their preferred lawyer for Aisha Huang. They mentioned Nkrabeah Effah Darteh as the lawyer government was more comfortable with.
That is how Aisha Huang dropped her earlier lawyers and accepted Effah Darteh. (I shall reserve for another day further details of what fully transpired at that unethical and diabolical meeting which was convened and chaired by a prominent Deputy Minister).
Soon after the devious Mövenpick meeting, Nkrabeah Effah Darteh, who was described as government’s preferred lawyer, took over the case and actively appeared in court on multiple occasions defending Aisha Huang and her accomplices on 26th February, 2018; 14th March, 2018; 22nd March, 2018; 23rd March, 2018; 5th July, 2018; 11th July, 2018; 13th July, 2018 and 1st November, 2018.
Nkrabeah Effah Darteh was also present in court on December 19, 2018 when the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government filed its infamous and treacherous nolle prosequi making Aisha Huang and her collaborators free as they were discharged immediately.
Okudzeto added that this government must really have such a special interest in the Aisha Huang affair that it always schemes under bizarre, nefarious, unpatriotic and destructive circumstances to ensure that only a certain calibre of “trusted” and “preferred” lawyers associate closely with the Aisha Huang case.
“Instructively, it is clear to me government is more concerned about managing sensitive information and containing the spread of dangerous secrets about the Aisha Huang debacle even more than the damage negative public perception about an immediate past NPP Chairman defending Aisha Huang’s accomplices can do to its already sordid image.” He added.
The trickery, political chicanery and galamsey shenanigans will be exposed and totally defeated soon — real Judgment Day is coming.
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has said the Akufo-Addo administration is determined to make all persons who are caught engaging in illegal small scale mining (Galamsey), to face the full rigours of the law.
He indicated that the Chinese national, Aisha Huang popularly known as Galamsey Queen, who was arrested for allegedly re-entering Ghana without permission after her deportation, and the others with her will all face the law for their actions.
Aisha Huang was denied bail yet again on Tuesday October 11.
She was denied bail by an Accra High Court, where she is facing four charges pressed by the Attorney General.
Speaking to journalists after the case, Mr Jinapor said “One of the key pillars on which we are seeking to deal with this issue of illegal small scale mining is law enforcement and prosecution, particularly as it relates to foreigners.
“As you can see, the Attorney-General himself was in court and he himself is conducting this trial, prosecuting the cases in a very spirited and enthusiastic manner.
“I think it helps my work, when you have an Attorney-General who is diligent and serious about prosecution and ensuring that all perpetrators are brought to book, I think it is a big boost and I am very thankful to him for the work he is doing.
“We will continue with our efforts on all fronts – law enforcements, reforms as well as the prosecutorial part, which we are fully committed .
“As you can tell, this Aisha Huang lady, the government of President Akufo-Addo is committed to bring her and other persons who are involved in illegal mining to face the full rigors of the the laws.”
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has jumped to the defence of his Deputy, George Mireku Duker who has been hit with allegations of involving himself in illegal mining activities.
According to the minister, he has no reason to believe such allegations as he is confident that his deputy would not be involved in such illegality.
“I think that the matters are still at play and the minister has denied it flatly. I have full confidence in the minister in my ministry and I don’t think he will ever be involved in any such conduct,” the minister told the press on Tuesday, October 11, 2022.
Amidst public calls on the government to take drastic measures in the fight against galamsey, George Mireku Duker and some members of the current government, as well as members of the ruling New Patriotic Party, have been accused of being involved in galamsey.
But the minister for lands and natural resources emphasised that it will only be through an investigation that the allegations against his deputy can be established or otherwise.
“They have denied it and if there is any substance to any such allegations, I think the best way to proceed is to conduct investigations,” he said.
Mr Jianpor who was addressing the press after alleged Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang was brought to the Accra High Court noted government’s commitment to fight galamsey by all means possible, including through prosecutions.
“As you can tell, this Aisha Huang lady, the government of President Akufo-Addo is committed to bring her and other persons who are involved in illegal mining to face the full rigours of our laws in this country,” he said.
Aisha Huang remanded indefinitely for trial
Chinese National, Aisha Huang, who is in court for her involvement in illegal mining activities (galamsey) in Ghana, has been remanded to police custody by the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court.
Presiding Judge Lydia Osei Marfo, during a sitting on Friday, October 11, 2022, refused the plea of her lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, after the latter argued that his client deserved bail.
According to the judge, all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including his client’s flight risk, remain and will not be changed.
She added that his constant presence in court with his client would be the only way to ensure the case is heard accordingly for the determination of his client’s fate.
State Prosecutor Godfred Dame, on his part, reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring the case is duly heard and that the accused are prosecuted if found guilty.
Aisha Huang is in court over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals, four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license.
She is also facing four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022.
Her case has since been adjourned to October 24, 2022, for case management.
Corrupt Ghanaian politicians must be aware that Anas Aremeyaw is returning soon. The private investigator, who is based in Ghana, has found a way to combat corruption in that country, but since the truth is never allowed to reign in any society and those who advocate it frequently become enemies, this investigative journalist under the “TigerEye” firm, has experienced his fair share of assaults, disgrace, criticism, hatred, and undermining, which has prevented him from working for a while.
Many Ghanaians, notably anti-NDC fans and columnists, were against Anas and tried to bring him down since he was exposing corrupt politicians in the government of the Ghanaian leader, Nana Akufo Addo. Many Ghanaians did not value Anas Aremeyaw Anas‘ work in Ghana, a country where the truth isn’t vital in politics and where crime and corruption are tolerated by the current administration.
Anas experienced his fair share of humiliation, assault, ridicule, and dishonor, yet he never defended himself when things got tough. In an article I wrote titled “The Profound Qualities Of Mahama And Anas,” I discussed how both Mahama and Anas had experienced their fair share of accolades, humiliations, and accusations, but the best quality about them was how they handled such situations without defending themselves.
Even though President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo promised to protect the public’s purse and even stated that he will utilize “Anas’ ideas” to combat corruption in the country, he failed the nation. Therefore; Anas took it upon himself to change things in the country with the intention of making a difference. Many Ghanaians turned against the investigative journalist after exposing the biggest corruption in Ghana’s football.
The institutionalized corruption in Ghana’s football was a lucrative business that is more advantageous to those involved, including Kwasi Nyantekyi and the president, Nana Akufo Addo, therefore; many corrupt and ungrateful Ghanaians considered Anas’ investigation as a wrong thing to do, accusing him of collapsing Ghana’s football. Who in their right mind would blame the collapse of Ghana’s football on someone who had revealed corruption in the sport?
Nana Akufo Addo has been linked to numerous corruption-related controversies aside from the football controversy that made national newspaper headlines. The most recent is about illegal mining in the country, which has resulted in the destruction of Ghana’s waters and environments but hardly did the press react until the situation got worse because it’s not John Mahama who is in power.
Mahama did not inflict the same level of destruction as Akufo Addo, but the majority of Ghanaians and the anti-NDC media did not spare him. With the assistance of dishonest judges, politicians, and journalists, Akufo Addo used his position and abused the constitution in his interest. The failure of the NPP government today seems to have inspired Anas to come back and continue where he left off.
After being exposed in a bribery and corruption case involving illegal mining in Ghana, also known as Galamsey, Charles Bissue claimed that Anas had set him up. The bribery case actually went cold because the NPP government never took Akufo Addo’s vow to seriously combat corruption. The president went on to appoint those who were heavily involved in corruption issues, such as Eugene Arhin, Charles Bissue, and Paul Adom-Otchere.
More crucially, when the late NPP politician Sir John’s will revealed his illegitimate wealth accumulation, the Special Prosecutor froze his assets. Surprisingly, the president issued an order releasing the politician’s assets to his family. Is this the kind of president Ghanaians are expecting to give them a better future?
They say you have two options: either retire or join them in spreading the false propaganda while your adversaries are trying to kill you because you are standing up for the truth. Like Anas, I took a break from them when I refused to join them and then returned to face the empire of treacherous opponents that had been tormenting me because I was writing against the corruption of Akufo Addo and the impending doom for our country.
I wrote, “Be Strong And Stand Firm, Anas Aremeyaw Anas” for ModernGhana and “How can Anas recover from a dead-end career?,” for Ghanaweb when Anas had disappeared from the media landscape. The term “lazy” is used by society to describe someone who is not making a substantial contribution, but when you work hard to accomplish something, you end up surrounded by many opponents. That is the Anas’ narrative.
The majority of Ghanaians can now see the damage this particular government called the NPP has done to our dear country Ghana, considering the collapsed economy, high rates of unemployment, crime and corruption, and an enormous debt without accountability. There was a time when you write against Akufo Addo, despite the truth, there are always people to attack you. Now that the dust has settled and the devastation is seen, those attacks have subsided.
Hunger is now a treat as food, basic necessities, and gasoline prices have drastically increased beyond the control of desperate customers. Inflation has reached its highest height in history. As I keep saying that everything has a time, and Anas’ retaliation is just around the corner.
After the NPP government’s fall, I think Anas is gearing up to return even more powerfully to finish what he started and this time, to expose and avenge what was done to him. I was surprised to hear him speak up against Charles Bissue’s lies once more, especially in light of the death of his colleague, Ahmed Hussein-Suale
The Bono Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, a.k.a. Abronye DC, has said that the government is failing in the fight against illegal mining because it has not stopped the factors that encourage it.
Abronye said that one of the main things that fosters ‘galamsey’ is the easy access to mercury in Ghana.
He added that if the government is serious about fighting illegal mining, it has to ban the import of mercury.
“We say we want to stop galamsey, but people have easy access to mercury, which is used for galamsey. Without mercury, illegal mining will cease. Where do they get the mercury from? Does it fall from the sky for them to go and collect it?
“We import the mercury from other countries. So, if we really want to stop galamsey, one of the main things we can do is to make sure that mercury is not imported into this country.
“If mercury continues to be imported into the country, whether we like it or not, illegal mining will continue. So, if the lands minister is serious about fighting galamsey, he should make sure import of mercury into Ghana is curtailed,” he said in Twi.
He also said that the soldiers and other people who have been tasked with stopping the menace are not taking it seriously because they know nothing will happen to them if they fail.
Speaking in a Neat FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, the NPP regional chairman added that the government should make sure the taskforce charged with stopping the menace swears an oath by the gods.
“I said that from day one, the taskforce to fight galamsey should be made to swear by the gods. I said this because the members of the committee that was set in 2013 to fight galamsey have all of a sudden become rich. The committee that was set by this government has also been dissolved.
“Soldiers are sent to protect water bodies, but the waters keep getting polluted, and nothing happens to them,” he noted.
Municipal Chief Executive for Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, Benjamin Kesse, has denied any involvement in galamsey activities within his municipality.
The MCE was accused by Nana Nyowah Panyin IV, the Chief of Dompim-Pepesa in the Tarkwa municipality of engaging in galamsey activities.
In an interview with Joy FM, the Chief indicated that he has evidence to prove that the MCE together with Member of Parliament for the area, George Mireku Duker and Kobby Okyere Darko Mensah, the Western Regional Minister are all involved in polluting the water bodies with their galamsey activities.
But in a response, the MCE noted that the accusations smack of malice.
The MCE explained that the Chief is accusing him and two others because they did not support his bid as a Chief, hence this allegation when he got an opportunity on national radio.
“It is not true. Whatever he said is a lie, a total lie…There is an issue here in Dompim and it is purely chieftaincy; and he knows that we do not support his bid so he started this long ago about three years ago and he has been running around.
“Today, he knows that the President is very much particular about the fight against galamsey so he feels that he is taking the opportunity to make this wild allegation so that he will get a hearing for what he is saying. So that the President will call somebody and disappoint the person. I have documentation to the effect that he wrote to the President not to appoint me. He has done everything,” Benjamin Kesse stressed.
What the Cheif said about the MCE
Nana Nyonwah Panyin IV, on Monday, October 10, 2022, to Joy FM that he has incontrovertible evidence to implicate the trio in galamsey activities.
“I know not of any company but I know of the very people who are behind the operations of ‘galamsey’ in my area. First and foremost the Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah is involved.
“The MP for the area, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Honorable George Mireku-Duker is also involved and the MCE, Benjamin Kessie is also involved. I have told you I am not going to disclose my arsenals to you.”
He did not state the exact nature of their involvement in galamsey, which has become an issue of national concern with increasing pressure on government to curb its growing spread.
“They said they were going to sue, so let them sue. I’ll let out my arsenals at the right time,” Nana Nyonwah Panyin IV alleged.
Founder of the United Peoples Party (UPP), Akwasi Addae Odike, has hinted that he will be petitioning Ghana’s international partners over illegal small-scale mining activities, popularly known as galamsey.
He listed three institutions that the UPP will be petitioning to put pressure on the government to take more decisive steps in combatting the ever-growing scourge of galamsey.
In an interview on Joy News channel, October 10, 2022; Odike stressed that from where he sat, the government was still not taking the galamsey fight seriously hence the need to employ external pressures.
“We want to send a petition to United Nations, European Union and International Monetary Fund, IMF, we want this to be part of the conditions, the strings attached to the bailout. I am imploring the IMF to bring galamsey issues as part of the conditionalities to secure this bailout.
“This will push the government harder, to take decisive decisions to mitigate this menace. United Nations Security Council too must come in, because now the effect of illegal mining is creating a health hazard,” he submitted.
He also cited the issue of security submitting that people into galamsey “are possessing a lot of guns, apart from that, HIV/AIDS is on the ascendency at these mining areas,” he alleged insisting that he had evidence to back the claims.
He is also worried about the fact that galamsey was gradually posing a health threat, especially to tubers that are grown in affected areas.
“It is contaminating our food, the tubers. You are sitting in Accra here and unbeknownst to you, you buy a yam which has been contaminated with cyanide and you will have a kidney or some infection,” he added.
Galamsey has become topical in recent months with the resurgence of news on its continued negative impact on the environment.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at a recent meeting with the National House of Chiefs and selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, MMDCEs, restated his resolve to root out the canker.
The issue has also been given impetus following the rearrest last month of a notorious galamsey kingpin in the person of Aisha Huang.
The Chinese national who had as of 2018 been repatriated from Ghana after the state discontinued a criminal trial against her for galamsey, reentered the country on the blind side of the authorities.
Founder of the United Peoples Party, UPP, Akwasi Addae Odike, has aimed at clergy for being quiet in the fight against illegal small-scale mining, known popularly as galamsey.
Odike, one of the most vocal politicians on the issue, is of the view that as representatives of God on earth, pastors must be seen and heard to be on the frontline of the fight against galamsey.
He said in a JoyNews interview aired on October 10, 2022; that it was for a reason that God created nature before mankind, stressing the need for man to appreciate and protect not destroy nature.
“Why are the pastors who are the representatives of God now, quiet over these nefarious activities of illegal mining?” he quizzed. “Have you heard any pastor issuing a statement to condemn this?
“And they should have been the front liners. They are quiet. They are afraid of Akufo-Addo more than God. The pastors are afraid of Akufo-Addo more than God,” he stressed.
He said, away from clergy having a political duty to rise up against galamsey, he believed that as divine reps and given that nature belongs to God, “if you are an ambassador of God and you sit aloof for the property of the one who sent you… it is unfair.”
Odike has hinted that his party will petition Ghana’s international partners such as the United Nations, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, to pile pressure on the government to take more decisive action in the fight against galamsey.
Galamsey has become topical in recent months with the resurgence of news on its continued negative impact on the environment.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at a recent meeting with the National House of Chiefs and selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, MMDCEs, restated his resolve to root out the canker.
The issue has also been given impetus following the rearrest last month of a notorious galamsey kingpin in the person of Aisha Huang.
The Chinese national who had as of 2018 been repatriated from Ghana after the state discontinued a criminal trial against her for galamsey, reentered the country on the blind side of the authorities.
According to Joyce Bawah Mogtari, a close adviser to former president John Dramani Mahama,President Nana Akufo-Addo may be eying funds from the global climate action fund since he is pretending to reinvigorate the campaign against unlawful small-scale mining (galamsey).
The assistant claimed that President Akufo-Addo has never been interested in the fight against the scourge on the October 10 episode of Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana.
She asserted that more will be done to fight galamsey if the president leaves office while also implying that President Akufo-Addo has shielded party leaders who have been mentioned in numerous reports.
“If he leaves the scene now, I can bet you a lot more will be done to stem galamsey,” Bawah Mogtari said.
The former deputy Transport Minister added that President Akufo-Addo should have resigned over his failed fight after he placed his presidency on the line to combat galamsey.
“President Akufo-Addo has no intention. He never intended. It was never part of his plan. I am almost certain that maybe there is some climate funds available that he wants to collect so he has to make an effort and pretend that he is fighting galamsey. That’s all it is. Oh yes. It is a mere huff and puff.
“He means absolutely nothing. We were supposed to put our jobs on the line…in fact, he should have been resigning by now. At least tell us that I am a very proud man, that I have failed in my fight against galamsey; in any case I have failed in the other things I promised to do so let me go home and rest. But of course his Vice President is the same. Let’s stop paying lip service to the realities on the ground,” she said.
“This is a serious existential threat that we all are grappling with. I think that pretending to fight it is even a lot worse. You should just do nothing then so at least we know you are doing nothing,” Bawah Mogtari added.
Background
President Akufo-Addo met with the National House of Chiefs on October 5 to seek their renewed support in dealing with the galamsey menace.
In an address, the president expressed concerns over galamsey activities which he admitted has been a lost battle over the years.
The president said he paid an electoral price for his fight as he lost votes and, in some cases, NPP MPs in the 7th Parliament lost their reelection bid in mining communities.
He stated that the fight against illegal mining can only be won with the support of chiefs as well as depoliticizing the fight.
“It can only succeed if it is a truly national battle that no one seeks to exploit for political gain, as we saw in the last election. The progress of our country depends on all of us, all citizens of Ghana, all Fellow Ghanaians, pulling together to defeat this existential threat to our future,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Ghana has over the last few years been waging war on the activities of illegal miners, however, it is widely believed that the fight has not yielded the desired results.
The discolored nature of water bodies as well as general environmental degradation has been used as a testament to the failed fight.
Anti-corruption crusader, Vitus Azeem, has advised Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, to distance himself from investigations on Charles Bissue’s alleged involvement in illegal small-scale mining activities (galamsey).
According to him, this will be in the best interest of the case after it emerged that Kissi Agyebeng was one of the lawyers for Anas’ Tiger Eye P.I – the agency which did the ‘galamsey fraud’ documentary which captured Charles Bissue receiving bribes when he served as secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
Speaking to Accra-based Starr FM, Vitus Azeem said Kissi Agyebeng can cede the investigations to his deputies in order to avoid or reduce the conflict-of-interest situation he now finds himself.
“There is an issue there but then again you can say Kissi Agyebeng is not the Office of Special Prosecutor. He is the Special Prosecutor but he works with people. There is a deputy Special Prosecutor and other people, so what he can do is not to take up the matter himself personally but the office should be able to take up the matter,” he said.
“It is a risk that he might be tempted to be biased or tempted to influence the investigation in a certain direction but once his attention has been drawn to it, that should make him to distance himself from the main investigation of the matter and leave it to his subordinates to do the work.
“One thing about conflict of interest is, when you are aware of it you take steps to avoid it or minimize it such that it does not influence or affect whatever decisions that are going to be taken in connection with the matter.
“I believe that the best thing is for him to come and open up and say no he is not going to be part of the investigation, he should stay away because of this relationship,” Vitus Azeem added.
Kissi Agyebeng in a statement under his hand said the Office of the Special Prosecutor has launched investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in galamsey related matters.
According to him, the investigation targets some officials at the Lands and Ministry as well as the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has commenced an investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of illegal small-scale mining. The investigation targets some officials of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Forestry Commission.
“It also targets the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), especially in respect of the seizure and management of excavators, machinery, road vehicles, and gold nuggets,” part of the statement issued on October 10 read.
According to the OSP, the investigation also targets some individuals and private companies including the secretary of the IMCIM, Charles Bissue and Akonta Mining Company Limited belonging to the New Patriotic Party’s Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako alias Wontumi.
“The investigation includes the active and ongoing inquiry into allegations of use of public office for profit against Charles Bissue, during his tenure as Secretary to the IMCIM, arising from an investigative documentary titled; ‘Galamsey Fraud Part I’, published by Tiger Eye P.I.
“The investigation further targets the activities of Akonta Mining Limited and other companies; nationals of foreign countries allegedly involved in illegal mining; and allegations of corruption and corruption-related offences against some Municipal and District Chief Executives and political party officials,” the statement said.
Charles Bissue who was caught on tape receiving a bribe in the exposé has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Speaking to Accra-based Citi FM in 2021, Charles Bissue said he was set up by members of the Tiger Eye P.I
He insists the money he was caught on video receiving was a donation from Chairman Wontumi to the party.
“There was nothing like corruption. Somebody manufactured it because he wanted to go into illegal mining, which I stopped,” he said.
He was cleared of all charges of corruption by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service in 2019 but Anas Aremeyaw Anas says the report was a “white-washing antic with no credibility” and had no input from Tiger Eye PI during the investigation.
Following rigorous investigations, the CID came to the conclusion in a final report that Mr. Bissue did not violate the IMCIM’s established protocols in order to favour ORR Resource Enterprise, the organisation at the centre of the incident.
Ghana has been waging war on the activities of illegal miners, however, it is widely believed that the fight has not yielded the desired results.
The discoloured nature of water bodies as well as general environmental degradation has been used as a testament to the failed fight.
Former Member of Parliament for Tema East, Titus Nii Kwartei Glover, has blamed elements within the ruling New Patriotic Party for the government’s failure to defeat illegal mining.
According to the former MP, while some members of the party are embroiled in the galamsey menace, those appointed at the local level to fight the menace have failed to discharge their mandate.
“The difficulty is our own people in there. My own NPP people. Do you think I am afraid to talk about it? It is my own NPP people who are making the fight against galamsey difficult. It is a fact. The law says don’t mine on our river bodies.
“If the soldiers are sent in to drive away the galamseyers and they leave, the District Security Council led by the MCE what do they do? The Regional Security Council is also responsible for security at that level what do they do? So every time soldiers have to be moved from Accra to these areas to fight the menace? That is not good,” he said on Adom TV’s morning programme.
Rampant illegal mining activities have resulted in the degradation of several forest covers and the pollution of various water bodies.
This has resulted in a renewed public discussion on illegal mining activities.
Various calls have been made for the government to take drastic steps to curb the menace.
Last week, President Akufo-Addo met with members of the National House of Chiefs and MMDCEs in galamsey areas.
The meeting by the president was to fashion out some solutions to the galamsey issues.
The paramount chief of Cape Coast, Oguaamanhen Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, has posited that the central government has too much power.
According to him, the powers of chiefs, who had complete control of their territories before the colonial era, have almost been completely taken away by political authorities.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II said that chiefs nowadays have to seek permission from politicians in the capital town of Ghana, Accra, before they are allowed to do anything on their own land, asaaseradio.com reports.
“With the advent of politics as we see it today, chiefs as it were, are relegated to the background. The position they held and the part they played is not the same today; where you had the power to do certain things, you do not have the same power now.
“You have to channel certain decisions to Parliament and even to the government before you implement certain things and I wouldn’t say it’s an affront, but it subjects the chief to either the government or to Parliament and that was not the case in the past. It is a nuisance; it’s a delay in the resolution of matters in your own environment,” he said.
“For example, if you are chief, that land of which you are the chief belongs to you [hold it in trust for the people] and therefore, anything whether minerals or whatever there is in that land, you should have control. If you are misusing it your people are there to check on you,” the chief is quoted to have said by asaaseradio.com.
He added that “Why should I go to Accra to get a permit before I can explore what is in my own land? … you can have your treaties but leave my land for me.”
The Oguaamanhen’s comments come following conservations on the role chiefs play in leasing lands for mining activities in the country.
Many Ghanaians have said that chiefs are complicit in the menace of illegal small-scale mining, otherwise known as ‘galamsey’, in the country.
But the chiefs have maintained their innocence, saying that they are not the ones who give out mining licenses to prospective miners.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has said it has commenced an investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of illegal small scale mining (Galamsey).
A statement issued by the OSP on Monday October 10 said the investigations targets some officials of the Ministry of Lands and natural Resources and the Forestry Commission.
It also targets the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), especially in respect of seizure and management of excavators, machinery, road vehicles and gold nuggets.
“The investigations include the active and ongoing inquiry into allegations of use of public office for profits against Charles Bissue during his tenure as Secretary to the IMCIM arising from an investigative documentary titled ‘Galamsey Fraud Part 1, published by Tiger Eye PI.
“The investigations further target activities of the Akonta Mining Limited and other companies nationals of foreign countries allegedly involved in illegal mining and allegations of corruption and corruption related offence against Municipal and District Chief Executives political party officials.”
This comes just few days after Charles Bissue descended heavily on Anas Aremeyaw Anas for recently revisiting his issue on galamsey.
Charles Bissue, a former Western Region Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), had been mentioned by the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a candidate of imprisonment over his involvement in small-scale illegal mining as captured in the work of Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The former Presidential Staffer then replied Sammy Gyamfi, accusing him and the NDC of misleading Ghanaians.
But Anas’s Tiger Eye PI then revisited the issue.
It was this that goaded Mr Bissue to issue a statement dated Friday, October 7, 2022.
He sought to clarify the content of the 2018 investigative documentary.
“I did not demand any money from the applicant with promise of fast tracking or facilitating the process,” he refuted Anas’s allegations, describing his work as “corrupted”.
“The money in question was a donation from Bernard Antwi Boasiako [alias Chairman Wontumi] for a party activity. I did not grant the company any rights to resume mining when at the time, the ban was in force as published by Tiger Eye P.I.”
He added: “For the record, I don’t consider your work as an entrapment. In fact, it is hollow and a failed attempt to smear my reputation with lies, just as you’ve done to your victims in the past.
“I dare say, and I repeat that you are a liar, and should Ghanaians entertain your deceitful antics, this fight will never yield any results.”
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has commenced investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences related to illegal small-scale mining, also known as galamsey, in Ghana.
“It also targets the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal
Mining (IMCIM), especially in respect of the seizure and management of machinery, road excavators, vehicles, and gold nuggets.”
The investigation will include the active and ongoing inquiry into allegations of use of public office for profit against Charles Bissue, during his work at the IMCIM, to an investigative documentary titled Galamsey Fraud Part I, published by Tiger Eye P.I.
The investigation further targets the activities of Akonta Mining Limited and other companies; nationals of foreign countries allegedly involved in illegal mining; and allegations of corruption and corruption-related offences against some Municipal and District Chief Executives and political party officials.
The founder and leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Akwasi Addai Odike, has accused traditional authorities in Ghana, particularly chiefs in the Ashanti Region, of ruling their subjects without a vision.
According to him, most of the chiefs are only interested in the pride and pageantry that comes with being chiefs and do not have any plans to improve the livelihood of their subjects.
Odike accused the chiefs of selling off all the lands that have been entrusted to them to illegal miners whose activities are now endangering the lives of their subjects.
“The lives of your subjects are not important to you (the chiefs). You are only interested in selling our lands to enrich yourself. Akufo-Addo has only two years of his term as president left. He will not be president forever. But you, the chief, will be chief till you die, and all the destruction you are causing in the environment with the help of Akufo-Addo will be your burden.
“…When I become president, I will school you on leadership. You people (the chiefs) do not understand leadership. We don’t rule people by oppressing them. We rule with a vision. What is your vision? Tell us the vision you have for the Ashanti land.
“How can you call yourself leaders? People travel abroad and make money to come and bid to be chiefs. As they are bidding to become chiefs, all they think about is how they are going to sell lands to enrich themselves. Their mindset is to only sell land; they don’t think about what is going to happen to their grandchildren,” he said in Twi in an Onua TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb.
He added that should he become president, he will review the country’s land tenure so that chiefs will not have 100 percent ownership of lands under their jurisdiction.
The Kumasi Traditional Council, in August 2022, performed rituals to banish Odike for accusing Ashanti chiefs of condoning illegal mining.
According to the Kumasi Traditional Council, the businessman turned politician made inciteful statements that the Council deemed to be distasteful, unsubstantiated, and meant to dent the image of Manhyia.
Odike, in an interview on Oyerepa Radio, berated the chiefs for failing to help end the ‘galamsey’ menace.
He went ahead to urge the youth to rise and demonstrate against the chiefs if the traditional rulers fail to come clean on their roles in or stance against illegal mining.
Undercover investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has revealed details on why he backed down on an earlier decision to involve the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service in his galamsey investigation.
This was contained in a statement by the celebrated journalist, who is also the owner of Tiger Eye PI, over his 2019 documentary dubbed “Galamsey Fraud part 1.”
The investigation, which looked at the rot in the galamsey menace and how some top government officials were involved in it, also implicated a former secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue.
According to the statement, any claim that runs contrary to what the company said was without merit as Charles Bissue was caught engaged in bribery and corruption.
In a statement dated October 7, the owner of Tiger Eye PI said the documentary which was carried out on “truth, facts and audio-evidence,” was sent to the CID as a way of getting their blessing on it before it was aired.
However, the statement added, something fishy happened along the way that got the team to back out from seeking the help of the police investigators.
“While investigations were ongoing under the OSP, we noticed a parallel investigation (an unwelcomed intrusion) was opened by the Tiwaah Addo Danquah-led CID on the back of a so-called complaint from the Chairman of the IMCIM, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, which generated enormous public opprobrium
“Tiger Eye, sensing a fishy move had been designed to undermine the investigations of the OSP, took a decision not to collaborate with the CID since the same would have amounted to duplication of effort and a waste of precious resources, especially so when we suspected the whole CID intrusion was a smokescreen. Therefore, the so-called CID report which Mr. Bissue always hurriedly likes to bask in had no inputs from Tiger Eve who were the sole authors of the Galamsey Fraud investigations, and so, Tiger Eye considers the said report as a white-washing antic with no credibility,” the statement said.
Also in the statement, Tiger Eye PI’s Anas Aremeyaw Anas insisted that its 2019 documentary was nothing but the true representation of what transpired.
It added that any claim that runs contrary to what the company said was without merit as Charles Bissue was caught engaged in bribery and corruption.
“Tiger Eye’s position, conduct and approach to all investigations are based on truth, facts and audio-visual evidence. Tiger Eye affirms and maintains its investigations and conclusion on the Galamsey Fraud documentary about Mr. Charles Bissue and other staff at the dissolved IMCIM. Any claims or allegations to the contrary are false and without merit.
“Mr. Charles Bissue engaged in bribery and corruption and Tiger Eye uncovered this in the form of audio-visual evidence when undercover journalists posed as owners of an abandoned mining company,” a part of the statement read.
Anas further refuted Charles Bissue’s claim that agents of Tiger Eye P.I demanded payment of monies in order not to air the documentary.
He maintained that it was a “figment of his imagination” for him to think that monies would be collected to sweep the documentary under the carpet to avoid his disgrace when it has already been advertised.
Read the full statement from Anas Aremeyaw Anas below:
Security Analyst, Prof. Kwesi Aning has said President Akufo-Addo’s meeting with the National House of Chiefs on galamsey activities in the country would amount to nothing.
On Wednesday, President Akufo-Addo met with the National House of Chiefs and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives [MMDCEs] over the galamsey menace.
The meeting was to afford the President the opportunity to find other means of dealing with the problem.
But Prof. Aning believes the meeting by the President will have no impact on the fight against galamsey.
He noted that for many years now, the government’s utterances have not corresponded with actions taken, hence, the meeting was just a façade.
“I do not think it [the meeting] is going to have any impact at all because when you look across the spectrum of public action and public implementation, what is the nexus between public utterances and implementation? That correlation cannot be positive. So that meeting is a nice meeting that brought people together, they had opportunities for photoshoots and that is that. I am not expecting anything at all to come out,” he said on Newsfile, Saturday.
“Ghana has become a state under siege – a beleaguered state in which there is a state within the state that is influencing the way policy relating to mining is made, understood or implemented.”
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has vowed to deal with persons within his government who may be found complicit in illegal mining activities.
The President said the government has for several years been struggling with the fight against ‘galamsey’, hence government officials cannot continue to compromise efforts against the menace.
“I am not here to threaten anybody, but I want you to know that this is a struggle that I take very seriously and I will not be in a position to protect anybody against who evidence is massed up about their complicity in this matter…I am a lawyer and I always deal with facts and when the facts are brought against you, you will be invited to comment on them,” he told the Chiefs and MMDCEs during his meeting with them on October 5.
Veteran journalist Kweku Baako Jnr has bemoaned the failure of the state’s security apparatus to trace people who purchase lands meant for cultivating cocoa and use them for illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’.
According to him, the sale of cocoa lands to ‘galamseyers’ is a crime because, even though the lands belong to the cocoa farmers, the minerals beneath them belong to the state.
Kweku Baako, who made these remarks in a Peace FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, said that the failure of the security to find the people who are buying cocoa lands and turning them into ‘galamsey’ sites is very worrying.
“People are selling lands meant for cocoa lands to galamseyers, other farmers are being driven out by these activities. Both the buyer and the seller I have a problem with but the buyer is where my emphasis is. So if the sellers can be encouraged to tell us who the buyers are, why not.
“Are the people buying galamsey lands ghost? No, they are not. With a little intelligence gathering, even collaborating with the sellers, these galamseyers can be caught.
“The point is that even though the land belongs to the farmers the minerals under them belong to the state. So, there is clearly some element of criminality if the farmers are selling the lands to people who are going to dig for the minerals beneath them,” he said.
The veteran journalist added that even if the cocoa farmers are not willing to cooperate, the security apparatus must be able to gather the needed intelligence to arrest these illegal miners.
Kwesi Baako made these remarks while reacting to reports that indicated that illegal mining is gradually reducing Ghana’s cocoa production levels.
Social commentator, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has urged Ghanaians to give President Akufo-Addo another chance to stop small-scale illegal mining (galamsey).
Speaking in a Peace FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Allotey Jacobs intimated that even though the fight against ‘galamsey’ is not going so well currently, the president cannot be solely blamed for the inability of the state to curb the menace.
He added that the government is finding it difficult to stop ‘galamsey’ because Ghanaians are not helping enough.
“Let us give the president the last chance with this work he is doing on galamsey. Because he said he is putting his presidency on the line and he is doing so well but we are not helping him. We as Ghanaians.
“Because we kept spreading unnecessary lies about the fight against galamsey. If the president decides to take drastic actions now, we, the same Ghanaians will be criticising him.
“We will threaten not to vote for his party. We always use the power of our thumb to threaten politicians. But the truth is that our country is being destroyed. In a matter of about five years we might not have clean and portable water in our country,” he said in Twi.
Allotey Jacobs also said that the government must start putting in place alternative opportunities for persons, directly or indirectly, involved in ‘galamsey’ as it also puts in measures to stop the menace.
The founder and leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP) has said that the meeting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had with chiefs and Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) on the fight against galamsey will amount to nothing.
In an Onua TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb on Thursday (October 6), Akwasi Addai Odike alleged that most of the participants at the meeting, including the president, are beneficiaries of “galamsey.”
He added that the president’s meeting can be akin to a meeting of shareholders of a company who are meeting to discuss how they will share their profit.
“The meeting the president had in Kumasi had no benefit. The president went to meet MMDCEs, is he not the same person who appoints them? Does he not have a Chief of Staff who is supposed to sack MMDCEs who are misbehaving? Do you have to call all of them together?
“The meeting the president held in Kumasi was a galamsey shareholders’ meeting. The chiefs are blaming the government for the menace, the government is also blaming the chiefs. These are the two groups who went to meet. They are the shareholders in galamsey.
“The president just went to make a speech. He did not state any strategy to stop the menace, and he is not going to because he is a direct beneficiary of the galamsey proceeds. Everything shows that Nana Addo is a direct beneficiary of galamsey proceeds. The chiefs are also beneficiaries of galamsey,” he said in Twi.
He added that Akufo-Addo, after all the resources at his disposal, including the army and putting his presidency on the line, is now asking chiefs to help in the fight against galamsey.
President Akufo-Addo, during his meeting with chiefs and MMDCEs in Kumasi on Wednesday (October 5), urged chiefs across the country to get themselves involved in the fight against illegal small-scale mining since they are the custodians of lands in the country.
“80 percent of the lands in this country continue to be under your custody, much of it having been acquired through the blood and sacrifices of your ancestors. The remainder of 20 percent, which I hold in trust of the people of Ghana, derived from state acquisition from you.
“What this means is that ultimately, the welfare of the state of the lands is our joint responsibility, although by statute the minerals in the soil belong to the president in trust for the people,” he noted.
The largest opposition party in Ghana, the National Democratic Congress, has described the current efforts by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government against illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) as mere ‘window dressing’.
According to the party, the Akufo-Addo government only engages in rhetoric rather than cracking the whip on its own officials and officials of the New Patriotic (NPP) who have been caught engaging in ‘galamsey’.
It has, therefore, demanded that President Akufo-Addo, as the first sign of his seriousness in the fight ‘galamsey’, orders the prosecution of five persons including his past appointees and leading members of the NPP.
Here are the five people NDC wants Akufo-Addo to prosecute
Former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng
The first person the NDC is demanding that the government prosecutes is the first Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation under Akufo-Addo’s presidency, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, for allegedly fuelling and profiting from illegal mining.
The former minister, in 2006 contested in the NPP flagbearership race for the December 2008 National Presidential Elections but lost to the current president, Akufo-Addo.
Kwabena Frimpong Boateng is a Ghanaian physician and cardiothoracic surgeon who established the National Cardiothoracic Centre and the Ghana Red Cross Society. He is also the President of the Ghana Heart Foundation and was the Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
Prof Boateng has been accused by some Ghanaians including veteran journalist Kweku Boateng of owning a ‘galamsey’ site.
Claims that the renowned medical practitioner was involved in ‘galamsey’ heightened in 2020 when 500 excavators seized from illegal miners went missing under his watch.
Former secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Charles Bissue
The second person the NDC wants prosecuted is the former secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, under President Akufo-Addo, Charles Bissue.
Mr. Bissue, in addition to his rule as the secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, was a presidential staffer. He was also a two-term Western Regional Secretary of the NPP and a member of the National Council of the party.
He recently indicated that he was going to contest in the race for the NPP’s General Secretary position but withdrew at the last minute.
Charles Bissue was implicated in an investigative documentary by Anas Aremeyaw Anas in 2019 as an alleged enabler for galamsey.
Bissue allegedly facilitated for ORR Resource Enterprise, a company seeking to circumvent laid down processes to be given clearance for its mining operations.
The matter was referred to Special Prosecutor, then Martin Amidu, but Bissue was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service before Amidu could finish with his investigations.
Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako
The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, a.k.a. Chairman Wontumi, is one of the names on the list of the NDC.
He has since 2018 been often accused without evidence of being the El Chapo of galamsey in Ghana.
The involvement of Wontumi in galamsey was highlighted by then Minority lawmaker Adam Mutawakilu in a July 2018 press conference in parliament.
“…The chief of Jakobu came out clearly [to tell me] that the CEO of the forestry commission and Wontumi, chairman of NPP in the Ashanti Region, are engaged in galamsey,” the former MP said.
Wontumi’s name came up again recently, when the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, directed the Forestry Commission to suspend the operations of Akonta Mining Company in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve of the Amenfi West Municipal Assembly.
According to a statement issued by the Public Affairs office of the Ministry on Friday, September 30, 2022, the company owned by Wontumi, has been engaging in mining activities in the forest without a permit.
Former First Vice-Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central, Horace Ekow Ewusi:
The former First Vice-Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central, Horace Ekow Ewusi, is another name on the list of the NDC.
Ekow Ewusi was supposedly arrested by the police over the 500 missing excavators used for illegal mining in 2020.
His arrest was after Prof Frimpong Boateng issued a letter directing the Criminal Investigation Department to arrest and interrogate him after learning that former Ekow Ewusi had sold some of the confiscated equipment from illegal miners.
Horace Ekow Ewusi also was caught on tape discussing galamsey plans with a former Minister of Environment, Science, and Technology.
In the said tape, Ekow Ewusi was heard detailing to Professor Frimpong Boateng how they can use galamsey to finance party activities.
He stated: “The last time you met my MP [Elvis Donkor] in Parliament, he told you that he will also need a machine to work with and you even asked him to come and see me because I have a lot of these excavators.”
Professor Frimpong Boateng however denied the content of the leaked audio in a GhanaWeb interview.
Former aide to the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, Andy Owusu
The last name on the list of five names is the former aide to the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, Andy Owusu.
Andy Owusu was captured on tape with other persons who were purported to have received bribes in the exposé by Anas Aremeyaw Anas on galamsey in 2019.
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas claimed that Andy Owusu charged GH¢50,000 for his services during undercover investigations and was paid a total of fifteen thousand cedis (GH¢15,000.00).
“Mr. Andy Owusu, a link man for Mr. Bissue charged us fifty thousand cedis (GH¢ 50,000.00) to get us through to him. We negotiated for forty thousand Cedis (GH¢40,000.00) and he accepted it. Out of this amount he accepted part payment of fifteen thousand cedis (15,000.00). Mr. Andy Owusu was also the one who told us how much Mr. Bissue was ready to accept to fast track the process for us. Mr. Andy Owusu also linked us to “school boy” a national security operative for our safety at the illegal mining site”, he posted on his Facebook page.
The governing New Patriotic Party(NPP) has taken a swipe at the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) after the latter described its effort in fighting illegal mining in the country as a scam.
Mr. Owusu Bempah accused the NDC of enabling and festering galamsey when they had the opportunity to pull the plug.
“We are talking about a party that shamelessly launched the Youth in Small Scale Mining programme in the Eastern Region, which apparently opened the floodgate for galamsey.”
“Of course, the galamsey situation got so bad under Mahama in 2015, such that he had to hang his shame on the people of Kyebi, tagging the place as the headquarters of Galamsay in the country.”
He further accused the NDC of enabling galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang to thrive in Ghana.
“For those that may have missed this; the erstwhile Mahama government issued an infinite resident permit to Aisha Huang.”
“Precisely on 28th March 2015, Aisha Huang was given an indefinite resident permit to live here in perpetuity and to engage in her illegal activities. This happened under the Mahama administration. Meanwhile, she was unsuccessful in getting the permit during the President Kufour era.”
“So you see, any dastardly attempt by the NDC to rationalize the political economy of galamsay must be roundedly condemned. It is beyond dispute that under John Mahama-led government, the national record of the deleterious impact of galamsay left a lot to be desired. It was simply unprecedented.”
He explained that all the Akufo-Addo administration has been doing is simply managing a very bad situation as well as it can by the deft and relatively constructive application of the statutory laws of the land.
The National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi while addressing a press conference in Accra on Thursday, October 6, 2022, said the President is not backing his efforts with action.
He described the measures and strategies put in place by government to win the war against the illegality as a clear deception, alleging that some members of the NPP and government are behind galamsey in the country.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken a swipe at the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) after the latter described its effort in fighting illegal mining in the country as a scam.
The NPP Deputy Director of Communications, Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah in a statement said the NDC’s conduct is “like the pot calling the kettle black because their track record in the galamsey menace is horrible.”
Mr. Owusu Bempah accused the NDC of enabling and festering galamsey when they had the opportunity to pull the plug.
“We are talking about a party that shamelessly launched the Youth in Small Scale Mining programme in the Eastern Region, which apparently opened the floodgate for galamsey.”
“Of course, the galamsey situation got so bad under Mahama in 2015, such that he had to hang his shame on the people of Kyebi, tagging the place as the headquarters of Galamsay in the country.”
He further accused the NDC of enabling galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang to thrive in Ghana.
“For those that may have missed this; the erstwhile Mahama government issued an infinite resident permit to Aisha Huang.”
“Precisely on 28th March 2015, Aisha Huang was given an indefinite resident permit to live here in perpetuity and to engage in her illegal activities. This happened under the Mahama administration. Meanwhile, she was unsuccessful in getting the permit during the President Kufour era.”
“So you see, any dastardly attempt by the NDC to rationalize the political economy of galamsay must be roundedly condemned. It is beyond dispute that under John Mahama-led government, the national record of the deleterious impact of galamsay left a lot to be desired. It was simply unprecedented.”
He explained that all the Akufo-Addo administration has been doing is simply managing a very bad situation as well as it can by the deft and relatively constructive application of the statutory laws of the land.
The National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi while addressing a press conference in Accra on Thursday, October 6, 2022, said the President is not backing his efforts with action.
He described the measures and strategies put in place by government to win the war against the illegality as a clear deception, alleging that some members of the NPP and government are behind galamsey in the country.
Former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on illegal Mining, Charles Bissue has responded to the attacks by the largest opposition NDC calling for his prosecution in the infamous galamsey fraud matter.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC)on Thursday asked President Akufo-Addo to show the seriousness of his fight against ‘galamsey’ by prosecuting his officials who have been found complicit in illegal mining immediately.
National Communication Officer of the party, Sammy Gyamfi at a press conference said the government is being rhetorical rather than taking action against the menace.
“Ghanaians are tired of your flowery speeches and useless rhetoric. The so-called fight against ‘galamsey’ has been a spectacular failure and the only way to salvage it is for you to man up and finally begin to crack the whip on your errant appointees and NPP functionaries who are neck-deep in the ‘galamsey’ business.
“We demand the immediate prosecution of all NPP functionaries and NPP officials who have engaged in illegal mining such as Charles Bissue, Chairman Wontumi, the evidence is clear, Andy Owusu, Ekow Ewusi, Prof. Frimpong Boateng among others,” he stated.
But Charles Bissue has rejected the allegations of fraud cited in the NDC Presser on the galamsey menace.
“My attention has been drawn to the scathing attack on my person by the National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi in his press conference that responded to President H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo’s renewed assurance in the fight against illegal mining. In that press conference aired on various media platforms on Thursday 6 October 2022, Mr. Sammy Gyamfi malign and traduce me by referencing a rather doctored and propaganda-induced documentary authored by Tiger Eye P.I’s Anas Aremeyaw Anas,” said Charles Bissue in his press statement.
He maintained his innocence in the matter saying the public has been misled to accept and believe the narrative by Anas Aremeyaw Anas about the money he was seen taking in the video.
“As I have said countless times, that money was not a bribe, and I did not make any demands whatsoever from any operative or beneficiary of illegal mining while I served on the IMCIM.
“The money in question was a donation from the NPP Chairman of the Ashanti
Region, Bernard Antwi Boasiako alias Chairman Wontumi, to the then NPP
Western Regional Organiser, Abdul Ganiyu for a party event organsied in the
Western Region.
“For the malice and character assassination that Anas and his sponsors had in
mind, the public was denied the audio recordings and full disclosure of the
purpose of that money handed to me.
“It was uncovered that a former employee of the IMCIM, Francis Owusu Akyaw, whom I fired for unsatisfactory conduct sponsored the video recording of the documentary.
“Francis Owusu Akyaw admitted to the Police of having commissioned that
recording. His nomination for the parliamentary candidate in the Juaben Constituency was subsequently declined as a result of this.
“This same Francis Owusu Akyaw is a named beneficiary of a mining firm [DML, as named in the leaked will] co-owned by the late Sir John of the Forestry Commission.”
Charles Bissue Exonerated by CID
The Criminal Investigations Department(CID) of the Ghana Police Service in 2019 exonerated Charles Bissue from allegations of corruption.
After thorough investigations, the CID, in a final report, concluded that Mr Bissue did not circumvent the laid down procedures of the IMCIM to favour ORR Resource Enterprise, the company at the centre of the incident.
In a letter to the President in March 2019, Mr Bissue, also a Presidential Staffer at the time, decided to step aside to avail himself for investigations after he had allegedly been accused by Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s Tiger Eye PI documentary on galamsey fraud.
The documentary alleged that the secretary was involved in alleged shady deals to facilitate processes for ORR Resource Enterprise.
But a letter written to Ampofo, Oppong and Associates, lawyers for Mr Bissue, by the CID on its investigations into the matter exonerated Mr Bissue from any wrongdoing.
The Ranking Member of the Local Government and Rural Development Select Committee of Parliament, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has expressed his indignation at the call by President Nana Akufo-Addo for a new initiative to be adopted in the fight against galamsey in the country.
President Akufo-Addo, at the meeting with some chiefs, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to find new ways to deal with the galamsey menace at the Manhyia palace in the Ashanti Region on Wednesday, 5 October 2022, said: “We have tried many initiatives in the fight against galamsey, still we have not won the fight against galamsey in the country.”
According to Mr Vanderpuije, however, considering the plundering that has occurred, “I don’t think there is something the president can do in the next two years to salvage the galamsey menace.”
The opposition MP for Ododododiodio in the Greater Accra Region expressed these doubts when he spoke on 505 on Class 91.3 FM hosted by Korku Lumor.
He noted that there are so many laws like the mining regulations and mining Acts to deal with the galamsey situation.
He said the president, with his cohorts, designed many of these initiatives to cause devastation to the country’s forest cover and water bodies.
Mr Vanderpuye argued that the president’s warning that he was not going to shield anybody in the renewed fight against galamsey was a charade because he had already shielded enough in the fight.
“Hasn’t the President shielded the former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Frimpong Boateng, under whose watchful eyes some 500 flew into thin air?” he questioned.
He again asserted that the likes of Mr Charles Bissue, the former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), is walking free despite his alleged involvement in the galamsey menace.
He maintained that there is a tall list of party galamseyers who have been shielded by Mr Akufo-Addo.
According to him, it is too late for the president to turn things around because of the level of devastation caused by the illegal miners.
He said the failure of the president to sustain the fight against galamsey was a situation of sheer incompetence, complicity, unwillingness and dishonesty.
“This government cannot do anything to compensate for the loss because of galamsey,” he said.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC)on Thursday, October 6, 2022, held a press conference to discuss the matters that are impeding government’s fight against illegal mining, also known as galamsey.
The party’s presser was moderated by Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, who suggested some radical measures government should put in place to address the canker.
Below is the full statement:
Good afternoon to you ladies and gentlemen of the media. We welcome you with the greatest of pleasure to this engagement to discuss an issue of great importance to our collective survival as a nation.
We are talking about the ever-worsening spate of illegal mining popularly referred to as “galamsey” and its attendant devastation that we are witnessing on our water bodies, forest reserves, cocoa farms, and general ecosystem.
Having been at the fore front of bringing to public attention, stories about some of the most obscene and egregious destructive effects of illegal mining in recent times, we are pretty sure that some of you in the media may have grown weary of our continuous discussion of this subject matter, for the simple reason that the more we talk about it, the worse it gets by the day. We are perhaps as weary as you are.
However, collectively, we cannot afford to be weary, because we are dealing with a menace whose ramifications portend grave danger not only for our generation and the very survival of our nation, but serious consequences for generations unborn.
We wish to highly commend you in the media for relentlessly highlighting the deleterious effects of illegal mining and constantly spending precious airtime, sometimes even at the peril of your lives to bring this issue to the front burner.
We have always maintained, that as far as we are concerned, and as the evidence bears us out, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government has not exhibited any genuine commitment to the fight against galamsey. And that their so-called fight against “galamsey” is nothing but a scam.
Indeed, we have always told Ghanaians that the single most important thing needed to wage a successful war against illegal mining in Ghana is the political will of the duty bearers of the country to confront the menace and all the dark forces fuelling it, regardless of whose ox is gored. It has however been clear to us from day one that behind the façade of the so-called galamsey fight of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, is a well-crafted ruse designed to appropriate the illicit galamsey trade for NPP apparatchiks and higher-ups in the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and their foreign collaborators.
Time without number, we have got the clearest confirmation from countless instances of state-backed complicity, active participation and sometimes clear aiding and abetment of the illegal mining activities not only by officials of the NPP, but by some of the very men and women in the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government entrusted with the responsibility of protecting our environment.
Indeed, Ghanaians would recall that on 17th April, 2017, President Akufo-Addo was appointed as a Co-chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) Advocates alongside Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg. Subsequent to that appointment, President Akufo-Addo on July 10th, 2017, in a speech delivered at the Accra International Conference Center, promised to “put his presidency on the line” in order to win the war against illegal mining.
Sadly, today, not only has the President once again failed to walk his talk, but the image of galamsey stands like a towering monument, reminding all Ghanaians of President Akufo-Addo’s deceitful character and his lack of political will to fight illegal mining.
You would all recall the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) which was formed by President Akufo-Addo at the outset of his fraudulent fight against illegal mining. This committee drew support from the media, civil society, both political and non-political actors and the general public, promising to be a potent vehicle that will bring an end to the galamasey menace. Several millions of taxpayers money was spent on this venture which would turn out to be the first of several ill-conceived, half-hearted and fruitless attempts by this government to combat a very serious problem as galamsey.
After banning legal small scale mining for over two (2) years and murdering some innocent Ghanaians in the process in line with their “shoot to kill” policy as espoused by NPP MP for Bekwai and first Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Osei Owusu, Ghanaians would later come to know, the Inter-Ministerial Task Force had no genuine commitment to fight “galamsey”. But instead, set out with the sole motive of driving away some unemployed Ghanaian youth and in some cases, licensed small scale miners, and replacing them with New Patriotic Party functionaries and footsoldiers.
Today, government’s so-called community mining program, has been taken over by NPP functionaries and government officials.
President Akufo-Addo’s engagement with chiefs and MMDCE’s in Kumasi yesterday provided yet another opportunity for him to engage in his usual flowery speeches which cannot win the war against galamsey. While urging the chiefs to help depoliticise the fight against “galamsey”, the President is reported to have told his MMDCE’s that fighting galamsey will convince Ghanaians to help the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ‘break the eight’. This has been the true nature of President Akufo-Addo who says one thing and does the exact opposite. He promised to protect our environment but turned around to strengthen “galamsey” and supervise the most devastating degradation of our environment.
Ladies and gentlemen, how can the man, President Akufo-Addo who stood on a political campaign platform in 2016 in Obuasi and promised to promote illegal mining when elected, lecturer us on the need to depoliticize the fight against illegal mining?
Today, distinguished friends, illegal mining has gotten out of hand in nearly all regions of Ghana, as galamsey activities blossom in 13 out of the 16 Regions of Ghana, a clear testament to the fact that the fight is completely lost. Having enjoyed the biggest goodwill from Ghanaians, support from you in the media, civil society, and political opponents, and having marshalled the coercive force of the state and spent millions of taxpayers funds on “Operation Vanguard”, “Galamstop” among others, ostensibly in the fight against the “Galamsey” menace, President Akufo-Addo’s scorecard on galamsey is an unmitigated disaster just as he has proven to be in the area of economic management and all other facets of our national life.
Not only has this government failed to preserve our environment, but our leadership today has compromised agriculture, livelihoods, and Sustainable Development Goals 6, 13, 14 and 15 which among other things talk about Water and Sanitation, Climate Action, Life below water and Life on Land.
Today, Ghana’s water bodies are more polluted and contaminated than ever witnessed in the history of this country. According to a recent JoyNews documentary by a journalist with Kumasi-based Luv FM, Erastus Asare Donkor, titled “Destruction for Gold”, majority of Ghana’s water bodies, including River Ankobra, the Pra River, River Ofin, the Afu Afu Stream, River Bonsa, the Totoa stream, the Nwui river, River Tano, River Bia and the Amoya Stream are all terribly polluted.
It is instructive to note that according to the Water Resources Commission, the recommended turbidity levels for drinking water is 5 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU), while that for other water use ranges between 80 – 150 NTU. However, according to the documentary, samples collected from the above-mentioned water bodies showed turbidity levels of between 504 to 3,880 Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) as at the end of February 2022, which is 3,875 times higher than the acceptable value for drinking water. So badly polluted and contaminated are these water sources by mercury, lead and other dangerous chemicals, that water from these sources cannot be used for any human, domestic or even agricultural activity.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, as we have already indicated, President Akufo-Addo’s so-called fight against illegal mining is a complete scam. And we shall demonstrate this truth with six (6) instances where this government failed to act in the interest of the Ghanaian people relative to illegal mining.
Missing Excavators, vehicles, gold, weapons among others.
Despite the initial goodwill that this government’s supposed fight against illegal mining enjoyed from you in the media and the Ghanaian people, despite the millions of public funds that were expended on the IMCIM and the standing force (Operation Vanguard, Galamstop etc.), the first of several shocking and dumfounding revelations that were to follow were reports that as many as 500 Excavators, several ounces of gold, weapons and other valuables that were seized from illegal miners could not be accounted for.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, as the whole of Ghana struggled to come to terms with reports of missing excavators, gold, weapons and other valuables seized from illegal miners, a certain video emerged of a conversation between then Minister for Environment, Science and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng and Ekow Awusi, the NPP’s Central Regional Vice Chairman and the Auctioneer of the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce.
In the said video, Ekow Awusi is heard in an argument with the Minister at the latter’s office over the whereabouts of the missing 500 excavators. In the ensuing argument, Ekow Awusi was heard reminding the Minister that he was the one who instructed him to distribute seized excavators to some party officials and apparatchiks of the New Patriotic Party because “Party Hia Sika”, to wit, their party needed money. Ekow Awusi proceeded to remind the Minister that this agenda of “Party Hia Sika”, came from the New Patriotic Party leadership who had directed that proceeds from illegal mining be made available to shore up the party’s finances.
This confession all but confirmed reports that several of the missing excavators which were seized from illegal and small scale miners and entrusted in the care of government, were eventually distributed to NPP functionaries, who in turn took it to “galamsey” sites they had been allocated by the government.
Ladies and gentlemen, you would recall that Prof. Frimpong Boateng, the Minister of Environment at the time filed a formal
Complaint with the Police accusing Ekow Awusi as the one responsible for the missing excavators. Sadly but unsurprisingly, nothing has been done about the case till date. The case has been rendered a “foolish case”. Neither President Akufo-Addo nor Vice President, Alhaji Bawumia has commented or shown any interest in the matter. In spite of the overwhelming evidence of the then Minister for Environment’s complicity in illegal mining and the missing seized excavators, he was kept at post. The excavator thieves have been left off the hook to enjoy their loot. The missing excavators were never retrieved. Yet, Ekow Awusi’s auctioneer license has been restored to him.
Indeed, some of the excavators were later found with NPP elements all over the country, while pick-up vehicles which were equally seized from illegal miners were distributed among party people for party work. Even more worrying was the fact that weapons seized from these illegal miners could not be accounted for, as same were either sold or shared to NPP footsoldiers, some of which landed in the hands of vigilante groups affiliated with the ruling government. These facts have been corroborated publicly by NPP’s Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong.
The manner in which the missing excavators scandal has been handled, is smoking gun evidence of the complicity of President Akufo-Addo and his government in the illicit “galamsey” trade and their lack of political commitment to fighting the menace and its devastating effects on our environment.
The “party hia Sika” scandal once again exposes President Akufo-Addo and the ruling NPP are the chief culprits of the politicization of the fight against the illicit “Galamsey” trade.
Anas’ “Galamsey Fraud” Documentary
Friends from the media, you would recall that sometime in 2019, Ace Investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas of Tiger Eye PI fame, released an undercover investigative video which contained very startling details of how certain appointees of President Akufo-Addo and NPP apparatchiks made a mockery of the fight against illegal mining.
The documentary exposed the underbelly of official complicity in the fight against galamsey. It provided the clearest and most irrefutable evidence that beneath the surface of all the flowery rhetoric about protecting the environment and regulating small scale mining, President Akufo-Addo’s boys at the flagstaff house were promoting “galamsey” with reckless abandon through the shameful collection of bribes from Chinese and other illegal miners.
The evidence as captured on video revealed clear breaches of Ghana’s mining laws and other guidelines as espoused by the then Inter-Ministerial Task Force to help in its fight against the menace. As we witnessed in the undercover video, officials of the Akufo-Addo government who were entrusted with the responsibility to act in the best interest of the state, turned out to be the very enemies who compromised the state’s efforts.
In that video, Charles Bissue, the then Secretary to the IMCIM who doubled as a Presidential Staffer at the time, was clearly seen demanding and collecting bribes and abusing his office to facilitate illegal mining activities. Quite symbolically, Charles Bissue could be seen soliciting and collecting these bribes at a scene with a picture of President Akufo-Addo hanging conspicuously on a wall. It could be recalled that another supporting cast in the video was one Andy Owusu, who was dubbed a “connection man”, helping to facilitate the deal. Andy doubled as an Aid to Bernard Antwi Bosiako, popularly known as “Chairman Wontumi”, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP whose own galamsey exploits will be discussed later in this presentation.
Despite the mystery Mining Company (ORR Resource Enterprise) not meeting the vetting and verification procedure which provides for requirements such as inspection of documents like mining licenses, environmental and operating permits, Tax Identification Number (TIN), and other registration details, field mapping and other pertinent requirements, Charles Bissue circumvented all laid down regulations for ORR Resources Enterprise (the mystery company). He also sacrificed other mandatory requirements such as Minerals Commission, EPA and Forestry Commission permits on the altar of pecuniary inducement. The IMCIM’s roadmap was completely jettisoned and rendered a complete nugatory.
It is instructive to note that, till date no punitive action whatsoever has been taken against the then Secretary to the Inter Ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining, Charles Bissue and his accomplice, Andy Owusu, Special Aide to the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling NPP, Chairman Wontumi who were caught on tape collecting bribes from Chinese and other illegal miners to promote their criminal activities at a time the ban on legal small scale mining was still in force.
Indeed, even before the then Special Prosecutor could probe into the conduct of Charles Bissue, the Police CID contrived to clear him of every wrongdoing and absolved him of his crimes.
The handling of “galamsey” fraud scandal is yet another clear instance of governmental complicity in the illicit “Galamsey” trade which is destroying our water bodies, lands, forest reserves, cocoa farms and our entire ecological system.
The involvement of MMDCEs in “galamsey”.
Distinguished friends from the media, you would recall that sometime in the year 2018, the Minister for local government, Hajia Alima Mahama at an official conference with Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government indicated that her outfit had evidence that several MMDCEs were engaged in the illicit “galamsey” trade. The minister went on to say that she knew the identities of the MMDCEs who were engaged in “galamsey” and was going to publish same but that never happened.
Since then, MMDCEs of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government who have been emboldened by this coverup and the President’s lack of commitment to the “galamsey” fight, have been actively promoting galamsey with brazen impunity.
Of the most troubling reports of the illegal mining activities of officials of the Akufo-Addo government have been those concerning the District Chief Executives for Elembele in the Western Region and Bosome Freho in the Ashanti region.
We begin with the DCE for Elembele who as far back as 5th April, 2020, was accused by his own NPP Constituency Executives of his involvement in illegal mining (galamsey) activities. These NPP executives had alleged that after a joint operation was carried out at some galamsey sites leading to the seizure of seven excavators and arrest of five persons, the DCE for Elembele, Kwasi Bonzo: “unpatriotically took ten thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC10,000) for each excavator, totaling GHC70,000 and shockingly released the excavators to them”.
No action whatsoever was taken against this DCE.
This is the same DCE who as recent as September 2022, was arrested for obstructing the Police in the retrieval of missing excavators that had been seized from “galamsey” sites in the area.
Under the watch of Kwasi Bonzo, Galamsey has now become a thriving “free for all” business in Ellembele. After destroying water bodies and forest reserves in the area, illegal miners have moved their equipment to the main township and are actively doing “galamsey” behind the official residence of the DCE and on the land of the Nkroful Senior High School in broad day light.
Then to the matter of the DCE for Bosome Freho in the Ashanti Region, Hon. Yaw Danso, who was clearly caught on tape directing party people on how they should use Chinese nationals to front their galamsey activities.
As far back as Monday, 1st February, 2021, some party executives of the New Patriotic Party and residents of the Bosome Freho District accused their District Chief Executive, Yaw Danso of engaging in galamsey activities. In fact, some residents described him as a “kingpin of galamsey in the area” who is fronting for Chinese nationals in illegal mining, and called on President Akufo-Addo to relief him of his post as District Chief Executive.
Indeed, the DCE is clearly heard in the audio that has emerged confessing to receiving 5% of the proceeds of galamsey from someone, which translated to an amount of GHC15,000 every two weeks as agreed between he and the owner of the galamsey concession in the presence of their lawyers. He was also heard in the audio giving instructions to someone to bring in Chinese miners to engage in galamsey in exchange for cash.
This strong evidence has been available to President Akufo-Addo and people at the forefront of the galamsey fight, yet they have failed to crack the whip.
President Akufo-Addo’s comment on this matter during his engagement with MMDCEs and some Chiefs in Kumasi yesterday shows clearly that he hasn’t repented from shielding his officials who are engaged in illegal mining and proves what walking contradiction he is, as he continues to skirt around this very important issue. Having admitted yesterday that he was aware of reports of the galamsey activities of his DCE for Bosome Freho, Yaw Danso, President Akufo-Addo’s claim that his errant DCE has lost his mother and would be invited to Accra for questioning at a later date, clearly betrays the President’s lack of genuine commitment to punish his own appointees who are behind this illicit business.
The Ghanaian people are simply tired of the President’s cocktail of empty and useless rhetorics on this subject of galamsey. We are saying to him today, that it is either we begin to see action on his part or he should simply spare us his empty talk.
Compromised Operation Vanguard, Operation Galamstop and Operation Halt after $3 Million spent on Drones.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, at the heart of President Akufo-Addo’s failed fight against illegal mining has been a huge expenditure on various military and sometimes joint security operations. From Operation Vanguard to Operation Halt and Galamstop, several millions of Ghana Cedis have been expended on procuring logistics, feeding security personnel and ostensibly reclaiming lands in the name of fighting illegal mining.
Despite the huge public funds that have been committed to the fight over the years, government has turned a blind eye on various reports of bribe-taking and extortion by security personnel embedded in these task forces. Instead of combating illegal mining, security personnel have been caught on camera time and again guarding galamsey sites and protecting illegal Chinese miners in areas such Tontokrom and Bipotenten in the Amansie areas of the Ashanti Region.
One such instance as revealed by a JoyNews report involved a Company known as Heritage Imperial deep in the Manso forest enclave of the Ashanti Region. The report revealed that military men belonging to the Ghana Armed Forces, assisted by members of the NPP vigilante group, Delta Force, were actively offering protection to a galamsey site.
These evidence have been available to the President Akufo-Addo and the powers that be, yet no action was taken to rid the task force of such criminally-minded officers. No wonder the fight has been a futile one and the various task forces have been a complete waste of taxpayers money.
Ladies and gentlemen, the former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. John Peter Amewu, under whose leadership the galamsey fight began made an observation that members of the Operation Vanguard Team had been compromised by illegal miners. His statements were corroborated by then Eastern Regional Minister, Hon. Eric Daffour.
Aside these happenings in the early years of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, which have been indelibly inscribed in the womb of time, we also do recall that some chiefs in the Amansie area in the Ashanti Region had cause to accuse then head of the Forestry Commission, the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, aka Sir John and other high-ranking government officials of fronting illegal mining activities in that area.
Also, as recent as 27th April, 2022, the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, who also doubles as the MP for Tarkwa Nsuem, George Mireku Duker was accused of his involvement in a dispute between two illegal small scale mining gangs, the Okobeng gang on one hand and the Mireku Duker side on the other hand. The leader of the group alleged to be affiliated with the MP died on the spot from a gunshot, while the leader of the Okobeng gang sustained deep cutlass wounds on the head and ears and was rushed to the Korle-Bu teaching hospital. The Deputy Minister and MP for Tarkwa was never sanctioned by President Akufo-Addo for allowing illegal mining activities in his backyard let alone actively encouraging and associating with same. Today, the Pataaho forest in Dompim, the hometown of Mireku Duker who doubles as a Chief in the area has become the hotbed of illegal mining, while he, who is supposed to be championing this government’s so-called fight against “Galamsey” looks on unconcerned.
Friends from the media, all the cases we have outlined point to an indisputable fact that the so-called fight against illegal mining under President Akufo-Addo has long been a wobbly, compromised one that is bound to fail. President Akufu-Addo has taken no interest in investigating these reports and bringing the named errant appointees to book. The only reasonable explanation for this strange reluctance of President Akufo-Addo to act on these cases of official complicity in “galamsey” is that President Akufo-Addo is himself complicit and benefits from the illicit “galamsey” trade of his appointees.
We all recall how under the leadership of Prof. Frimpong Boateng as Environment Minister, about $3 million of taxpayers money was spent on procuring drones for the use of these taskforces. Can the President tell the nation the whereabout of these drones and what use they have been put to?
Chairman Wontumi and activities of his Akonta Mining Limited in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve
Distinguished friends from the media, we are pretty sure you have followed recent events pertaining to the illegal mining activities of a company belonging to Bernard Antwi Bosiako, aka Chairman Wontumi, who is the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party. The said Company, known as Akonta Mining Limited, is reported to have been engaging in extensive illegal mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve located at Samreboi in the Western Region, without any mining lease, mineral right, and/or permit to undertake any mining operations in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve. This fact has been confirmed by the Minerals Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, yet Wontumi is still walking free.
As earlier revealed, Chairman Wontumi is one of the biggest and leading galamsey kingpins in this Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, whose galamsey footprints have left vast devastation in various forest reserves in Ashanti, Eastern, Western and Western North Regions among others.
Emboldened by the nonchalance and lukewarm posturing of the President, NPP bandits and thugs who now work for Chairman Wontumi had the effrontery to engage in an open armed combat with the anti-Galamsey task force of the Okyehene at Asaman Tamfoe in the Eastern Region two weeks ago. This is how brazen Wontumi has become in his indiscriminate “galamsey” activities and destruction of the environment under the watch President Akufo-Addo and Vice President, Alhaji Bawumia.
As a leading figure within the NPP, we can understand why President Akufo-Addo has refused to crack the whip on Wontumi’s destruction of the environment, because this conduct ties perfectly into the grand agenda of “Party Hia Sika”, which aims at mobilizing money for the New Patriotic Party through illegal mining activities.
The Aisha Huang Debacle
Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the final nail in the coffin of Akufo-Addo’s failed galamsey fight must certainly be the ignominious Aisha Huang debacle. The Aisha Huang debacle, as putrefying as it is, undoubtedly sums up the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government’s fight against galamsey, which has been one of hypocrisy, double standards and complicity.
We are sure, that you are all aware of how the Chinese woman, Aisha Huang, who was arrested in May 2017, and charged for undertaking illegal mining in Ghana and allegedly deported from the country in December 2018, ‘miraculously’ reemerged in Ghana.
Aisha Huang, who gained extreme notoriety for her galamsey activities and was tagged as the “Galamsey Queen”, is said to have been in Ghana all this while and was back to her illicit galamsey business until she was recently arrested after one of her partners reported her to the Police.
Indeed, many, including us in the NDC casted doubt over whether or not she was deported from the country in the first place when she was first arrested in 2017. As fate will have it, the chickens came home to roost when in a recent interview with Stone City FM in the Volta Region, on Monday, 12th September, 2022, truth mistakenly fell out of President Akufo-Addo’s mouth. In response to a question on the re-arrest of Aisha Huang, the President said: “I’m not sure whether she was in fact deported or whether she fled the country the first time, and has now come back”.
Much as the above statement from President Akufo-Addo was tragic, it revealed the inner truth and naked underbelly of the so-called fight against galamsey which has been nothing but lip service, half-hearted effort and complicity.
Having been arraigned before court once again and charged, it remains to be seen whether the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government will finally clothe itself in some glory, by prosecuting the notorious Aisha Huang to serve as a deterrent to others. But judging from events in times past, we are not in the least hopeful for any positive outcome. Only time will tell.
CONCLUSION
Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, as we have amply demonstrated, the so-called fight against galamsey by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government is a scam and has been a lost battle from day one. This is because, there has never been any genuine commitment or political will on the part of the President to combat the menace.
History has shown that any time a leader sets out to fight a certain crime in society, be it illegal mining, corruption, drug trafficking or any other vice, there is bound to be resistance from dark forces, including those who benefit directly from those crimes. However, what distinguishes leaders who succeed from those who fail is the genuine political will not only to bring sunshine on those crimes, but to severely punish the culprits in order to serve as a deterrent to like-minded persons who may contemplate those crimes.
President Akufo-Addo has proven to be a leader who has specialized in talk without backing same with deeds. Today, our beloved country stands at a cross-road of unprecedented economic mess and unprecedented environmental degradation under the watch of President Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia.
Instead of accepting responsibility for his failed “Galamsey” fight, President Akufo-Addo aided by his Minister of Lands and Naturals Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor have resorted to shifting the blame to the Chieftaincy institution. This latest attempt by the Akufo-Addo government to blame the failed “Galamsey” fight on Chiefs and community leaders is shameful to say the least and must be condemned in no uncertain terms.
It is about time President Akufo-Addo understood the important duties of the high office he currently occupies. He is the President of the Republic and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed forces. As President, he has authority and control over the security services and coercive powers of State. The mineral resources of the country are vested in him in trust for the people. And therefore he has the ultimate responsibility to ensure compliance with the mineral and mining laws of the country and the prosecution of those who breach same. More importantly, only he has powers to hire and fire appointees of his who engage in illegal mining. No attempt to shift or share the blame for his failed “Galamsey” fight will wash.
Mr. President, leaders are elected to solve problems, but you have only come to create more problems for the country only to turn around to massage the problems with flowery speeches and empty promises. Ghanaians are tired of your flowery speeches and useless rhetorics. Your so-called fight against galamsey has been a spectacular failure, and the only way to salvage it is for you to man up and finally begin to crack the whip on your errant appointees and NPP functionaries who are neck-deep in the “galamsey” business.
Mr. President, we demand the following urgent, concrete actions from you if you want Ghanaians to take you seriously:
We demand the immediate prosecution of all government functionaries and NPP officials who have engaged themselves in illegal mining (galamsey) activities such as Charles Bissue, Chairman Wontumi, Andy Owusu, Ekow Awusi, Prof. Frimpomg Boateng among others. This will be the first step to redemption and serve as a deterrent to other people within your government and party. You need to send a clear signal to Ghanaians that anyone caught in “galamsey” will be dealt with without fear or favour, regardless of party colours.
We demand that all the so-called illegal mining companies like the Akonta Mining Limited which belongs to Chairman Wontumi and Heritage Imperial Mining Company which belongs to Mr. Donald Enstuah, a known financeer of the NPP who have invaded forest reserves without any mining leases or permits, must be closed down and prosecuted. The assets of these companies must be confiscated and their owners surcharged with costs of the destruction of those forest reserves.
We demand that all security personnel complicit in illegal mining activities should be made to face internal investigations and discharged from the various services to serve as deterrent to others.
Mr. President, until you undertake the above actions faithfully, your so-called renewed fight against “galamsey” will remain a mirage. And you will be remembered by posterity as the President who promoted illegal mining by his appointees, party functionaries and their foreign collaborators and supervised the worst destruction of our environment.
Before I conclude, let me make the point that the NDC is not against mining in principle. What we are against is illegal mining, particularly mining in water bodies and irresponsible mining that destroys the environment without any reclamation. What we are vehemently against is hypocrisy of government officials, who after destroying the businesses of legal small miners, have turned around and engaged in the menace with brazen impunity.
Thank you for your attention ladies and gentlemen of the media and may God bless our homeland Ghana.
Recently, a video of a cocoa farmer claiming to be selling his cocoa farm to an unnamed bidder leaked online.
The cocoa farmer remarked that he owned the farm and the land on which the crop was grown, thus he was determined to sell it for mining in exchange for financial support.
Addressing the issue on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme Wednesday morning, Kweku Baako called on the security services to pounce on the buyer as well as every person who attempts to buy any farm, particularly cocoa farms, for galamsey.
“If they won’t cooperate, the [intelligence] security services should have enough intelligence capability to find out. I don’t think it’s a big deal. If the seller will not cooperate and will not identify the buyer, it is not beyond the capacity of the State in terms of its intelligence gathering and security apparatus to trace who is doing the business there,” he stated.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, October 6, he noted that the government is being rhetorical rather than cracking the whip on its own officials who are engaging in illegal small-scale mining, that is galamsey.
“Ghanaians are tired of your flowery speeches and useless rhetoric. The so-called fight against ‘galamsey’ has been a spectacular failure and the only way to salvage it is for you to man up and finally begin to crack the whip on your errant appointees and NPP functionaries who are neck-deep in the ‘galamsey’ business.
“We demand the immediate prosecution of all NPP functionaries and NPP officials who have engaged in illegal mining such as Charles Bissue, Chairman Wontumi, the evidence is clear, Andy Owusu, Ekow Ewusi, Prof. Frimpong Boateng among others,” Sammy Gyamfi said.
He observed that if President Akufo-Addo takes action, it will serve as a deterrent for other party officials and appointees.
He alleged that the President and the Minister of Lands have resorted to “shifting the blame on Chiefs and MMDCEs”.
He added that the attempt by President Akufo-Addo to blame the Chiefs is “shameful and must be condemned”.
“No attempt to shift or share blame for his failed ‘galamsey’ fight would wash. He was the one who put his presidency on the line and he would be held responsible for the failed fight,” Sammy Gyamfi stressed at the press conference.
It appears that Ghana is losing the fight against galamsey as the various water bodies in the country have been polluted with the colour of the water turning milky brown.
President Akufo-Addo at a meeting with chiefs in the Ashanti region on Wednesday, October 5, admitted that the fight against Galamsey has not been an easy one and vowed to deal with persons within his government who may be found complicit in illegal mining activities.
The President said the government has for several years been struggling with the fight against ‘galamsey’, hence government officials cannot continue to compromise efforts against the menace.
“I am not here to threaten anybody, but I want you to know that this is a struggle that I take very seriously and I will not be in a position to protect anybody against whose evidence is messed up about their complicity in this matter…I am a lawyer and I always deal with facts and when the facts are brought against you, you will be invited to comment on them.
“If the response is not satisfactory, you can guess to yourself what the consequences will be,” the President said.
He also admitted that Ghana’s fight against illegal mining has so far not been successful.
“Since I took office on 7th January 2017, nearly 6 years ago, I have made it the central feature of my presidency to lead in the efforts to rid our country of this menace which we all now call ‘galamsey’.
“Indeed, it was an important aspect of my inaugural address of that day. It has not been easy, it has not been popular, but we have not got the immediate result that I was looking for,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a member of the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, has reiterated his stands that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would be judged by posterity if he fails to win the fight against illegal small-scale mining, known popularly as galamsey.
Gabby was reminded of an earlier post he made in the early days of the war against galamsey on April 6, 2017.
In the said post, the founder of Danquah Institute, DI, wrote “Posterity shall not forgive Akufo-Addo and our generation if we don’t win the war against galamsey.”
In commenting on it, he indicated that, he still stands by those views because the import of the post in 2017 remains valid in 2022.
“I remember this tweet very well and the import of my post remains valid today as it was yesterday and for our President, our leaders and our society. Posterity will surely judge as [sic] meanly and legitimately so if we do not protect for future generations what was bequeathed to us,” Gabby tweeted on Thursday, October 6, 2022, with a screenshot of his 2017 tweet.
It appears that Ghana is losing the fight against galamsey with videos and pictures of water bodies in the country having been polluted with the colour of the water turning milky brown.
President Akufo-Addo at a meeting with chiefs in the Ashanti region on Wednesday, October 5, admitted that the fight against galamsey has not been an easy one and vowed to deal with persons within his government who may be found complicit in illegal mining activities.
The President said the government has for several years been struggling with the fight against ‘galamsey’, hence government officials cannot continue to compromise efforts against the menace.
“I am not here to threaten anybody, but I want you to know that this is a struggle that I take very seriously, and I will not be in a position to protect anybody against whose evidence is messed up about their complicity in this matter…I am a lawyer and I always deal with facts and when the facts are brought against you, you will be invited to comment on them.
“If the response is not satisfactory, you can guess to yourself what the consequences will be,” the President said.
He also admitted that Ghana’s fight against illegal mining has so far not been successful.
“Since I took office on 7th January 2017, nearly 6 years ago, I have made it the central feature of my presidency to lead in the efforts to rid our country of this menace which we all now call ‘galamsey’.
“Indeed, it was an important aspect of my inaugural address of that day. It has not been easy, it has not been popular, but we have not got the immediate result that I was looking for,” President Akufo-Addo said.
