A former Ranking Member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Inusah Fuseini, says illegal mining activities in the country are a result of the corrupt actions of the leaders.
According to him, both corruption and illegal mining require equal attention in eradicating them.
“What is happening in the mining sites is simply a manifestation of corruption. What has aggravated the situation is because of the corrupt activities of officials closer to government,” he said on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday.
Mr. Fuseini recounted that during his days as an active government official, he visited a community where he surprisingly saw about five Chang Fan machines on a river body.
He said the operations of the illegal miners were known by the District Chief Executive who was seemingly doing nothing to report the perpetrators and because it was illegal and occurred under the jurisdiction of the DCE, Mr Fuseini called for him to be removed from office.
He explained that illegal mining needs to be confronted as “a full enemy” because the activity threatens all aspects of the economy.
Ghana’s issue of illegal mining activities seems to be on the rise despite several calls on the government to help fight against it.
Although the government had indicated that there were no more Chang Fan machines on any of the river bodies, reports indicate that hundreds of these machines are still seen.
Mr Fuseini lamented that towns such as Obuase and Kibi where illegal mining activities are taking place currently are suffering the consequences.
“Anybody who visits hospitals in the mining areas will be left in no doubt that we have to do something against galamsey. When you go to Obuasi, when you go to Kibi, you’ll see deformities, babies born with deformities, I mean short limbs, abnormally big heads, and pregnancy complications,” he noted.
He, therefore, called for a multi-stakeholder engagement in the fight against the menace.
“But the primary responsibility lies with the government to be able to bring together all the stakeholders and to demonstrate that it is really committed,” he stressed.