Akufo-Addo dissolves Inter-Ministerial committee on galamsey

President Akufo-Addo has dissolved the Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Starr News has learnt.

Sources with knowledge of the development say the President will hold a national dialogue with all stakeholders in illegal mining.

It comes after the President called for a ‘conversation’ on galamsey in his last state of the nation address for his first term.

“There is one subject…I believe we the people need to have an open conversation, and that is the phenomenon of galamsey. Should we allow or not allow galamsey,” the President said.

In 2017, President Akufo-Addo declared that he was prepared to put his presidency on the line in the fight against galamsey.

His declaration was the wake of new measures such as the deployment of police and military personnel to arrest illegal miners across the country and the introduction of a community mining programme aimed at regulating small-scale mining in communities in an environmentally sustainable manner.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee coordinating the combat efforts was however hit with a scandal after it emerged that some members of the committee were involved in bribe-taking. An investigation by renowned undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposed rot within the committee.