The Executive Director at Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Mr. Braimah Sulemana, has expressed his belief that the chiefs are in a position to do much more in the fight against illegal mining than any other stakeholder, including the politicians.
Mr. Braimah Sulemana expressed his dismay with the devastating effects illegal mining continues to have on water bodies, farmlands, and forest reserves.
He noted that they are having a stakeholder engagement being held at Koforiduah that has brought together sector players such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forestry Commission, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and the two parliamentary select committees, Environment, Science and Technology, and Lands and Natural Resources.
It also includes the religious groups, the Christian Council, the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Office of the National Chief Imam, the Trade Union Congress, the University Teachers Association of Ghana, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), academics, and non-governmental organizations that work within the environmental sector.
Mr. Braima explained that the purpose of the engagement was to bring all these people together and ask the right questions and let all the stakeholders know that it must take honesty with oneself to be able to overcome the menace of illegal mining.
He noted that the members of parliament at the meeting, from the two parliamentary select committees from both NPP and NDC, do admit that it is time to put aside the blame game and really focus on a realistic solution to the problem.”
Mr. Braima, however, noted that there are two most critical institutions that he believes are in a place to better fight the menace. He cited the executive, headed by the president, and the chiefs (traditional rulers).
However, he expressed his belief that the chiefs are better placed to be able to fight the menace, if only honesty prevails.
“I honestly believe that some of our very, very influential chiefs, our revered chiefs, the chiefs that we really hold in high esteem, if they were to get up one day and say, ‘Hey, enough is enough, no more illegal mining, or even mining on my land, whether people have concessions, whether people are doing large scale, small scale, or medium scale.
“If some of these chiefs were to get up to say, Look, for the next month, I don’t want mining on my land. Even if you are an Anglo Gold, or a Newmont, or a Perseus Mining, or whatever it is, I believe that you have no choice but to pause.”
Mr. Braimah Sulemana, The Executive Director at Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
He further admonished that there should be many more engagements with the chiefs, as they are better placed to save the country from the danger that awaits this country if the menace of illegality continues on this trajectory.
He stated that people “often point to the fact that, look, once the chiefs are involved, or chiefs are abetting, and chiefs are either conniving, and chiefs are allowing it, the politician can do nothing.”
“We would still appeal to His Excellency the President to engage with our chiefs, because the ‘shoot and kill,’ and all of those things, we have moved from Operation Vanguard to Operation Halt to now NAIMOS. Look, the more we have these operations, the more the Galamsey crisis gets worse. It is as if more operations lead to more Galamsey, and it is not going to work.”
Mr. Braimah Sulemana, The Executive Director at Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
He emphasized that what is going to work as a solution in this fight is honesty; nothing else. All actors must come on board and be honest in their actions and stop the blame game.
Mr. Braima emphasized that from the part of the executive, there are municipal chief executives and district chief executives in the various districts and municipalities, as well as the national security architecture that has its presence all over the country.
He queried how all these institutions will have to wait for a task force to come from Accra to search for places of illegal mining in the very districts and municipalities that already have national security.
He therefore emphasized the way forward must be stakeholder engagements with everyone being honest with themselves, noting that the chiefs must be engaged for them to use their influence over their territories to help combat the menace of illegal mining.
READ ALSO: Economy Bleeds: GH¢300m Worth of Goods Smuggled Monthly – FABAG
