Chiefs blamed for delay in lifting ban on illegal mining

A Presidential Staffer & Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Charles Bissue, says some chiefs and traditional leaders have told government not to lift the ban on illegal mining in the country.

Speaking in an interview with host of 3FM’s Sunrise Winston Amoah on Thursday, Charles Bissue stated that the chiefs and traditional leaders have lamented the destruction caused by the activities of small-scale illegal miners, hence their call on government not to lift the ban yet.

“Most of them are saying the ban shouldn’t be lifted now. The government sits in the middle. The government is a government to the chiefs and the small-scale miners as well, so we are sitting in the middle and we have to do, through the president, what is right for Ghanaians. So we have to listen to all of them.”

The presidential staffer further noted that most of the chiefs have had their lands under their jurisdiction lost to activities of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

“The sentiments we’re getting from the chiefs is that, they feel that the illegal mining has cost a lot to their jurisdiction, and that if the ban is to be lifted at all, then the programmes should be outlined properly for them to be seen.”

According to the presidential staffer, the traditional leaders have also appealed to government to involve them in any decision-making process to deal with illegal mining.

Following the widespread devastation of water resources and forest reserves as a result of the activities of illegal mining, government, in January 2017, placed a ban on small-scale mining for an initial period of six months.

The ban was, however, extended in October 2017 for another three months, which ended in January 2018.

The president has hinted that a roadmap on lifting the ban will be unveiled soon.