Ato Forson: Akufo-Addo’s galamsey fight was a fraud

Leader of the Minority caucus in Parliament, Dr Ato Forson has run a hard rule on the government’s fight against galamsey. The former Deputy Finance Minister made the remarks following Prof Frimpong Boateng’s report, revealing the darkness surrounding the fight.

According to the Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam lawmaker, it was a scheme “to enable key government officials and functionaries at the Presidency to dabble in the very illicit business”.

“Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s report to the President on the failed work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, which was set up by President Akufo-Addo to fight the illegal mining menace, confirms that the whole “fight” was a fraudulent one. It was shrouded in a well-calculated ruse to enable key government officials and functionaries at the Presidency to dabble in the very illicit business of ‘galamsey.'”

Adding that, “Despite the President placing a moratorium on April 1, 2017, suspending all artisanal and small-scale mining in the country for a total period of one year and three months, we are told that in 2018, the government, acting through the Forestry Commission and Ministry of Lands, somehow contrived to give out all forest reserves in Ghana for mining activities.

“To confirm the grand collusion, despite a Cabinet directive in 2019 to suspend the issuance of new licenses and permits, more illegal miners, including Chinese gangs, entered Ghana’s forest reserves with the help of government officials, and the destruction of Ghana’s forests and environment continued unabated.”

In including his comment, the Minority Leader said “These revealing issues and several others in the damning report call for a national probe”.