Our water bodies should be clean by March 2023 – Mireku-Duker challenges Ghanaians

The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources responsible for Mines, George Mireku Duker has expressed optimism that Ghana’s waterbodies which have been polluted by illegal mining activities could regain their lost purity status by March 2023 if we are all committed to the fight against illegal Mining. Mr. Mireku Duker is reassured and encouraged by the fact that the measures introduced by the government are already yielding results and that if the trend is sustained by the first quarter of 2023, there will be a drastic improvement in the quality of the water bodies. He noted that the training of river wardens, who will complement the Operation Halt II taskforce is another laudable initiative by government towards the liberation of waterbodies from galamsey operations. Speaking at a Community Sensitization on Illegal Mining in Tarkwa on Thursday, October 27, 2022, Hon. Mireku Duker averred that the introduction of digital innovations such as registering and tracking all earth-moving equipment in the country as well as the Community Mining Scheme will guarantee success for the government in its fight against illegal mining. He, however, asserted that the innovations and efforts by government will not see the light of day if traditional authorities and residents of mining communities do not join in the fight against illegal mining. He, therefore, threw a challenge to the chiefs and residents of Tarkwa and its environs to extend helping hands to the government to purge the Bonsa River of the pollution from galamsey operations. Mireku Duker appealed during the engagement at Tarkwa that if the residents cooperate with the government, he is certain without any sense of ambiguity that by March 2023, the Bonsa River would be pure and safe. He cautioned the mining communities that government which has demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting legal small-scale mining businesses would be left with no option but to heed the call of those who are asking for a ban on small-scale mining if it does not enjoy the collaborative efforts of the indigenes of the communities. “There are suggestions for government to close down small-scale mining activities but we are aware of the number of job opportunities created in the small-scale mining sector. The Bonsa River has been destroyed. 100 years ago, they mined gold here in Tarkwa but the river was clear so how have we allowed greed to make us destroy our river”, he said. “Because myself, my Minister Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor believe in small-scale mining, we have the blessings of President Akufo-Addo to promote mining but in a very sustainable and responsible way. If you don’t want government to ban small-scale mining, all of you gathered here must help clean the Bonsa River. The chiefs, small-scale miners and everyone here has a role to play to protect the Bonsa River. The Small-scale miners have assured the MCE during a meeting that by the end of December, the Bonsa would have cleared. “The leadership of the small-scale miners in Accra has also assured us of their support to ensure that the Birim River in the Eastern region is cleared. It is the responsibility of everyone to fight illegal mining. Government alone cannot fight illegal mining, we need your collaboration. Government has recruited river wardens whose job is to provide constant patrol of the Pra, Tano, Bonsa, and Ankobrah, among others. They’ve been given speedboats to do their job. The river guards have uniforms stuffed with body cameras and their movements will be monitored,” he said. The MCE for Tarkwa-Nsuaem, Benjamin Kesse said the people of Tarkwa-Nsuaem will not sit down aloof and watch others destroy their livelihoods. He assured that they will provide intelligence to the security authorities about galamsey operators. Nana Adakwa Bediako III, Dzasehene of Apinto commended the government for the Community Mining scheme in the area, revealing that many lives have been impacted positively by the innovative mining scheme. He promised that his community will not allow galamsey operators to create a bad name for them. Ghana | Atinkaonline.com |Matthew Dadzie MPs optimistic about Akufo-Addo’s six-week ultimatum to Ofori-Atta Contrary to rumours and assumptions that President Akufo has yet remained adamant in the face of agitations from some majority MPs for the removal of Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori- Atta from office, unimpeachable information available to the New crusading GUIDE indicates that the minister will not go beyond the six-week extension as agreed by the President and the aggrieved MPs. Although there have been suggestions that the fuming MPs might have been talked out of their earlier stance after a meeting with the president, facts available indicate that the lawmakers agreed to pipe down, following an assurance from the President that Mr. Ofori Atta’s tenure will not exceed a stipulated six-week period, which covers the first round of IMF talks, presentation of the budget and its attendant appropriation bill. The MPs maintain that the six weeks would be enough time to cover all the aforementioned activities both in Parliament and on the IMF front. As per the Financial Performance Act, the budget statement is expected to be presented to parliament, no later than November, 16. Readers would recall that Parliament was greeted with series of mild drama when sitting resumed last Tuesday as legislators from both sides of the House initiated moves for the removal of the now careworn finance minister from post. Some NPP MPs, numbering about 80, held a press conference to impress on the President to relieve his cousin of the responsibility of managing the nationalkitty or risk losing their support for government business going forward. “Notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority caucus here in parliament will not participate in any business of government by or for the President [or] by any other minister,” the group threatened. However, on the heels of meeting at the Jubilee House, a source close to the presidency, hinted that, the MPs reached a gentleman’s agreement with the president on the way forward which included, granting Mr. ofori Atta, a six-week contract extension to enable him to submit his budget in November and subsequently go through with the appropriation, as required of him. This concession by the MPs has been misconstrued as bad fate as critics accuse them of engaging in some in shrewd bargaining to advance one’s own interest as against the larger interest of their constituents. But one of the MPs who spoke to this paper explained that, in spite of their grievances which have been made public, the president as the leader of their party needed to be accorded every respect. He said they were confident that the president would stick to his words. Meanwhile, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby has argued that the 80 NPP MPs who demanded the removal of Mr Ofori-Atta have joined the group of politicians who have lost their credibility. He explained that this is because they failed to execute their mission to the letter. “The people who originally issued this statement said that the Finance Minister has lost credibility and, therefore, this was affecting the discussions and pace of the outcome of the negotiations. “The whole statement was premised on the need for change now. So the recent statement has now added them to those who have lost credibility. “People don’t understand that it is not the Fund that is telling us what to do. We have to present a credible programme that they can add their credibility to it to ensure that others can see us as credible. “So the complete U-turn for me is nothing but shameful. They have joined the group of incredulous politicians and the incredulous Executive,” he stated on Thursday. But the Executive Director of IDEG, Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, was of a different view. According to him, President Akufo-Addo is in a very difficult position given the fact that it is his own party leading the request, thus, it was important for the President to negotiate with them. On the otherhand, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bons has disclosed that the Minister of Finance will stay “until the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November, 2022 and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill after which time the demand will be acted upon.”

The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources responsible for Mines, George Mireku Duker has expressed optimism that Ghana’s waterbodies which have been polluted by illegal mining activities could regain their lost purity status by March 2023 if we are all committed to the fight against illegal Mining. Mr. Mireku Duker is reassured and encouraged by the fact that the measures introduced by the government are already yielding results and that if the trend is sustained by the first quarter of 2023, there will be a drastic improvement in the quality of the water bodies. He noted that the training of river wardens, who will complement the Operation Halt II taskforce is another laudable initiative by government towards the liberation of waterbodies from galamsey operations. Speaking at a Community Sensitization on Illegal Mining in Tarkwa on Thursday, October 27, 2022, Hon. Mireku Duker averred that the introduction of digital innovations such as registering and tracking all earth-moving equipment in the country as well as the Community Mining Scheme will guarantee success for the government in its fight against illegal mining. He, however, asserted that the innovations and efforts by government will not see the light of day if traditional authorities and residents of mining communities do not join in the fight against illegal mining. He, therefore, threw a challenge to the chiefs and residents of Tarkwa and its environs to extend helping hands to the government to purge the Bonsa River of the pollution from galamsey operations. Mireku Duker appealed during the engagement at Tarkwa that if the residents cooperate with the government, he is certain without any sense of ambiguity that by March 2023, the Bonsa River would be pure and safe. He cautioned the mining communities that government which has demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting legal small-scale mining businesses would be left with no option but to heed the call of those who are asking for a ban on small-scale mining if it does not enjoy the collaborative efforts of the indigenes of the communities. “There are suggestions for government to close down small-scale mining activities but we are aware of the number of job opportunities created in the small-scale mining sector. The Bonsa River has been destroyed. 100 years ago, they mined gold here in Tarkwa but the river was clear so how have we allowed greed to make us destroy our river”, he said. “Because myself, my Minister Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor believe in small-scale mining, we have the blessings of President Akufo-Addo to promote mining but in a very sustainable and responsible way. If you don’t want government to ban small-scale mining, all of you gathered here must help clean the Bonsa River. The chiefs, small-scale miners and everyone here has a role to play to protect the Bonsa River. The Small-scale miners have assured the MCE during a meeting that by the end of December, the Bonsa would have cleared. “The leadership of the small-scale miners in Accra has also assured us of their support to ensure that the Birim River in the Eastern region is cleared. It is the responsibility of everyone to fight illegal mining. Government alone cannot fight illegal mining, we need your collaboration. Government has recruited river wardens whose job is to provide constant patrol of the Pra, Tano, Bonsa, and Ankobrah, among others. They’ve been given speedboats to do their job. The river guards have uniforms stuffed with body cameras and their movements will be monitored,” he said. The MCE for Tarkwa-Nsuaem, Benjamin Kesse said the people of Tarkwa-Nsuaem will not sit down aloof and watch others destroy their livelihoods. He assured that they will provide intelligence to the security authorities about galamsey operators. Nana Adakwa Bediako III, Dzasehene of Apinto commended the government for the Community Mining scheme in the area, revealing that many lives have been impacted positively by the innovative mining scheme. He promised that his community will not allow galamsey operators to create a bad name for them. Ghana | Atinkaonline.com |Matthew Dadzie MPs optimistic about Akufo-Addo’s six-week ultimatum to Ofori-Atta Contrary to rumours and assumptions that President Akufo has yet remained adamant in the face of agitations from some majority MPs for the removal of Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori- Atta from office, unimpeachable information available to the New crusading GUIDE indicates that the minister will not go beyond the six-week extension as agreed by the President and the aggrieved MPs. Although there have been suggestions that the fuming MPs might have been talked out of their earlier stance after a meeting with the president, facts available indicate that the lawmakers agreed to pipe down, following an assurance from the President that Mr. Ofori Atta’s tenure will not exceed a stipulated six-week period, which covers the first round of IMF talks, presentation of the budget and its attendant appropriation bill. The MPs maintain that the six weeks would be enough time to cover all the aforementioned activities both in Parliament and on the IMF front. As per the Financial Performance Act, the budget statement is expected to be presented to parliament, no later than November, 16. Readers would recall that Parliament was greeted with series of mild drama when sitting resumed last Tuesday as legislators from both sides of the House initiated moves for the removal of the now careworn finance minister from post. Some NPP MPs, numbering about 80, held a press conference to impress on the President to relieve his cousin of the responsibility of managing the nationalkitty or risk losing their support for government business going forward. “Notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority caucus here in parliament will not participate in any business of government by or for the President [or] by any other minister,” the group threatened. However, on the heels of meeting at the Jubilee House, a source close to the presidency, hinted that, the MPs reached a gentleman’s agreement with the president on the way forward which included, granting Mr. ofori Atta, a six-week contract extension to enable him to submit his budget in November and subsequently go through with the appropriation, as required of him. This concession by the MPs has been misconstrued as bad fate as critics accuse them of engaging in some in shrewd bargaining to advance one’s own interest as against the larger interest of their constituents. But one of the MPs who spoke to this paper explained that, in spite of their grievances which have been made public, the president as the leader of their party needed to be accorded every respect. He said they were confident that the president would stick to his words. Meanwhile, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby has argued that the 80 NPP MPs who demanded the removal of Mr Ofori-Atta have joined the group of politicians who have lost their credibility. He explained that this is because they failed to execute their mission to the letter. “The people who originally issued this statement said that the Finance Minister has lost credibility and, therefore, this was affecting the discussions and pace of the outcome of the negotiations. “The whole statement was premised on the need for change now. So the recent statement has now added them to those who have lost credibility. “People don’t understand that it is not the Fund that is telling us what to do. We have to present a credible programme that they can add their credibility to it to ensure that others can see us as credible. “So the complete U-turn for me is nothing but shameful. They have joined the group of incredulous politicians and the incredulous Executive,” he stated on Thursday. But the Executive Director of IDEG, Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, was of a different view. According to him, President Akufo-Addo is in a very difficult position given the fact that it is his own party leading the request, thus, it was important for the President to negotiate with them. On the otherhand, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bons has disclosed that the Minister of Finance will stay “until the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the presentation of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November, 2022 and the subsequent passage of the Appropriation Bill after which time the demand will be acted upon.”