Scrap Inter-Ministerial Committee on illegal mining – Tony Aubynn

Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, Dr. Tony Aubynn wants the government to dissolve the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining insisting the directorate is meaningless to the fight against illegal mining.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on illegal mining was commissioned in March 2017 by President Akufo-Addo to sanitize artisanal and small-scale mining in the country as well as develop a roadmap towards lifting an indefinite ban on small scale mining that lasted for about 21 months.

It was set up to vet registered small scale miners in the country to streamline their operations and make recommendations to the President to lift the ban on illegal mining.

But in an interview on Kasapa 102.5 FM, Dr. Aubynn argued that it’s rather prudent for the government to strengthen mandated state agencies like the Minerals Commission to lead the charge against the menace confronting the nation than always establishing parallel bodies with overlapping roles.

“Its good that the President established the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, but frankly the Committee has outlived its importance now and ought to be scrapped. It should have been dissolved after sometime and this accounts for the reason why there has been some excesses in their job evident in the alleged bribery and corruption in Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ expose on illegal mining. At this point in time, its best we strengthen the institutions in the sector to take up the fight. If we want to really move forward as a country, we need to strengthen our institutions to work effectively.” he told sit-in host Akwasi Nsiah on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM Tuesday.

The secretariat has recently been hit by alleged bribery and corruption in Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ expose on illegal mining.