Reject MMDCEs who condone illegal mining activities - FoN

Mr Solomon Kusi, the Programmes Coordinator of Friends of the Nation (FoN), has called on President Akufo-Addo not to maintain Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) who condone illegal mining activities in their jurisdictions.

The move, he noted, would show government’s commitment to fighting against illegal mining, otherwise known as “galamsey,” at the local level.

He called on the Inspector General of Police, Mr James Oppong Boanuh, to sanction all district police commanders whose jurisdictions oversee the operations of illegal mining.

Mr Kusi, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, tasked the National House of Chiefs to impose sanctions on any chief whose area engaged in illegal mining.

"The MMDCEs are the heads of the Security Council in the districts with the district police commanders as members, while the chiefs are the ones that sell the lands to the miners, hence the need to hold them accountable for their inability to bring perpetrators to book," he said.

When those sanctions were imposed they would help enhance commitment to the fight against the galamsey menace, he said.

Mr Kusi said government must include the effective fight against galamsey in the Key Performance Indicators for DCEs and district police commanders and reject all DCEs whose performances were below average.

“Government must make sure that any DCE whose jurisdiction was into illegal mining activities are not re-appointed. This will be the first approach in nipping the act in the bud. Also we must start appraising DCEs and district police commanders per their performance on curbing illegal mining,” he added.

That would go a long way in achieving the President’s goal of sanitising the small scale mining sector of the country, he said.

Mr Kusi commended the President for recently hosting a Consultative Meeting, which would be replicated in all the mining regions, to find a lasting solution to the menace.

Activities of illegal miners took the centre stage when President Akufo-Addo, in 2017, put his presidency on the line to fight the menace during his first term in office.

However not much had been achieved as the fight against galamsey continued to be a challenge in the country.