Charles Bissue, former Executive Secretary for the Inter-ministerial Committee on illegal mining has claimed that President Akufo-Addo is the only president in Ghana’s history to have taken tougher measures in the fight against ‘galamsey’.
According to him, before coming into office, President Akufo-Addo identified some solutions to fighting illegal mining and approaches to developing the face of small and medium-scale mining.
In an interview with Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9 FM’s “Epa Hoa Daben” socio-political talk show, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) spokesperson reiterated that setting up an inter-minister committee and placing a two-year ban on small-scale mining is the boldest decision ever by a Ghanaian president.
He said, “The President after resuming office identified what needed to be done in the fight against galamsey and how to help small and medium scale mining. He made a bold step and I haven’t seen any other president take such a step with the two-year ban on small-scale mining. It didn’t come good to lots of people but we needed to do it for the general good of the people and to save our environment. He took a bold step again to form the inter-ministerial committee with 10 cabinet ministers. It included Professor Frimpong Boateng, Dan-Botchway and other eminent people in the committee.”
He furthered, “I stepped aside 2018 and before I left office, we had done a lot in the fights against galamsey. We did a good job, traveled the length and breathe of the whole country and to see the root of the problem. Aside the problems identified which also went into our manifestos, we promised to restructure that sector. We brought in some additions and that affirmed the determination of what the president wanted to do.”
Mr. Charles Bissue’s comments come at the back of the recent Aisha Huang controversy as the President has received some public backlash.
Meanwhile, the lawyer of Aisha Huang, Nkrabea Effah Dartey has said that perceptions of her client as “Galamsey Kingpin” is misled.
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