Former Lands and Natural Resources Minister Inusa Fuseini stated that the 700 excavators seized from illegal small-scale miners (galamsyers) that allegedly went missing harmed public confidence in the fight against the illegal practice.
As the country struggles to deal with the threat, he has called for a shift in rhetoric.
On Joy FM’s Newsfile on Saturday, September 17, Mr Fuseini, a former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, stated that “the missing 700 excavators affected people’s confidence in the fight against galamsey.”
Hundreds of excavators seized from illegal miners are said to have vanished from the warehouse where they were stored.
The disappearance of the excavators alarmed many people, including the media coalition against galamsey and Occupy Ghana.
The missing excavators were called for to be found and accounted for, while those responsible for their disappearance were arrested and prosecuted.
If the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wins the 2020 elections, they will investigate the development.
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Mr John Mahama, the NDC’s Presidential Candidate in the 2020 elections, stated at the party’s manifesto launch that if elected, his government “will track down and take the excavators that are missing; we will return them to the rightful owners.” “We will strengthen the mining sector,” he added.
However, during his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, February 24 2021, Minister Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, stated that the Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Small-Scale Mining informed him that the number of unaccounted for seized excavators was not up to 500.
When asked about the whereabouts of the excavators during his vetting, Mr Jinapor, a Damongo legislator, stated,
“Mr Chairman, I have had the privilege of interacting with the Inter-ministerial committee on illegal mining, and I want to put on record that based on the briefings they have given me, and the documentation they have given me, there were no 500 excavators missing.” In their briefings to me, they have been very sympathetic to that.
“They claimed it was caused by the media.” They have provided me with some figures. According to their report, they confiscated 209 excavators and can account for 161 of them.”
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