Concerned Small Scale Miners want Frimpong-Boateng arrested over missing excavators
President of the Concerned Small Scale Miners Union of Ghana (CSSMUG), Kojo Peprah, has called for the arrest of the Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
His appeal follows comments by Prof Frimpong-Boateng about some excavators that cannot be found several months after being confiscated.
Mr Peprah argues that it would be highly unacceptable for the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation to say he does not know the whereabouts of the missing excavators.
“We can only blame the interministerial committee against illegal mining and all these operations were being done under Prof’s supervision. He can’t tell us he doesn’t know the whereabouts,” he said in an interview on Citi FM monitored by theghanareport.com.
“He should be arrested because he is in charge of them. He was supposed to supervise so the right thing is being done in the country, ” he stressed.
Professor Frimpong-Boateng had earlier admitted that the many seized excavators have gone missing at the various assemblies.
Several seized ‘galamsey’ excavators missing – Minister reveals
Now, this admission has caused a lot of stares and raised eyebrows, with many demanding that the earth-moving equipment should be traced.
While many, including the sector Minister, appears to be clueless concerning the location of the excavators, Mr Peprah has emphatically said: “I know where the machines are.”
“We know where the machines are, we were able to trace some of them in Tamale. When the Vanguards come, they seize your machine whether you have a license or not and will go and park it in Obuasi, ” Mr Peprah revealed.
Mr Peprah added that follow-ups showed they have been parked at the Industrial Area in Accra.
The Media Coalition Against Galamsey has also expressed disappointment in the sector Minister for failing to address the situation.
Excavators are not mobile phones, find them – Ashigbe tells Minister
Ban on galamsey
In recent times, there have been fresh agitations over the activities of illegal miners in the country ever since the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) begun to raise red flags about the state of the Ankobrah River in the Western Region where the pollution is increasing the cost of water for consumption.
The activities of miners in some parts of the country have led to the destruction of several water bodies including the Pra, Densu and Offin rivers.
This led to a temporal ban on the activities of small-scale miners in March 2017 as part of efforts to sanitise the sector and cleanse the water bodies which serves millions of households in Ghana.
The two-year ban was, however, lifted on December 17, 2018. The minister for environment, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng during a ceremony to announce the unveiling of the ban said only registered and validated small scale miners would be allowed to mine in their designated concessions.
But this has been called into question again after some people were spotted busily engaging in illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, during an unannounced visit by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Kweku Asomah Cheremeh.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng attributed the ongoing activities of illegal miners to “indiscipline” on the part of Ghanaians.