The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has called on Regional Ministers and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to take greater responsibility in the fight against illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey.
He said the fight against illegal mining should not be left solely to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, stressing that local government authorities must be held accountable for activities taking place within their respective jurisdictions.
Speaking at the National Conference for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives on Illegal Small-Scale Mining in Kumasi, Mr. Ayariga said public officials who fail to act against illegal mining in their areas contribute to the problem.
“If you are not part of the problem, you must be part of the solution. And it is not only when you are directly, actively involved in mining that you are part of the problem. You can be part of the problem because you have seen people actively mining and you have looked the other way round,” he stated.
Mr. Ayariga argued that Regional Ministers and MMDCEs were better positioned to identify and address illegal mining activities because they live and work within the communities where the practice takes place.
He said he would not allow the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, to shoulder the entire responsibility for the fight while local authorities failed to act.
“The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources does not sleep in our districts. His office is in Accra. There is so much that he can do to deal with the problem. But we, as MMDCEs and Regional Ministers, sleep in the districts where the action takes place, and there is so much that we can also do to fix the problem,” he said.
The Minister further indicated his readiness to personally lead efforts to tackle illegal mining, despite the political risks associated with confronting the practice.
He said he expected Regional Ministers and MMDCEs to demonstrate the same commitment and take concrete steps to address illegal mining activities within their respective jurisdictions.
Mr. Ayariga explained that the government’s objective was not to abolish mining, describing it as an economic activity that had existed for centuries and would continue as long as the country had gold deposits.
He emphasised that the national campaign was specifically targeted at illegal mining and not mining as a whole, noting that Ghana’s laws do not prohibit mining but criminalise activities carried out outside the legal framework.
“What we’re here today to decode and to find a solution to is how do we deal with illegal mining? Because we’re not saying that our Constitution prohibits mining. We’re not saying that our laws prohibit mining. What our laws prohibit is illegal mining,” he emphasised.
