Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Inusah Fuseini says the government has failed to demonstrate commitment to the fight against illegal small-scale mining in the country.
His comment comes on the back of the government’s renewed commitment to the fight against illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resource, Abu Jinapor at a press conference said the government is adopting new strategies in the fight against illegal small-scale mining and enumerated some steps the government will take.
According to him, over one hundred and eighty people have been jailed and over two hundred are on trial for their involvement in illegal mining adding that the government will also deal with those behind the menace.
But, the former Lands Minister says the government has never acted on its words on the numerous promises made towards the fight against illegal mining since they came to power.
According to him, the government lacks the commitment to prosecute people who are engaged in illegality.
“Does it mean that all along they don’t know those who are financiers and kingpins of the galamsey. What is conspiracy, abetment and facilitating in our laws for? If you know that some people are those facilitating the commission of a crime, are they not guilty of that crime?
“For them to say that we are changing gear, it looks weird because we have all known and always known most of the young men who are in the galamsey sites are just workers. And because of the capital-intensive nature of the activity people have to sponsor and invest in that activity,” he told Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Starr Today Thursday.
He continued: “If you are a government and you know those who are the enablers of that activity and you sit and watch them, then you are now saying you are changing gear. If they (government) have admitted that they are now going after those people then they have been negligent or probably have not been committed to the fight against illegal small-scale mining.”
The former lawmaker also indicated that the government knows those behind the menace but has failed to go after them.