Galamsey: Jinapor must resign over ‘ill-informed draconian’ comment – Federation of Labour
The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has called for the immediate resignation of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, following his comments on the demands for a declaration of a state of emergency against illegal mining (galamsey).
In a media engagement with journalists, Mr Jinapor emphasized that while fighting galamsey remains a priority, extreme measures could have unintended consequences on the economy, livelihoods, and governance.
“Declaring a state of emergency, that is in the bosom of the president, but I find that being far-reaching, (being) a very draconian measure to take,” Jinapor said.
However, Deputy Secretary General of the GFL, Kenneth Koomson, expressed dissatisfaction with the minister’s comments, stating that it reflects a lack of understanding of the gravity of the issues facing the nation.
“The minister clearly appears to be ill-informed and ill-equipped or perhaps, pretending not to understand the gravity and the magnitude of the issues that we have recounted and enumerated.
“For him to even describe the call for the president to activate Article 31, which is a state of emergency and describe it as draconian is very pathetic and smacks of a deliberate act to destroy the very water bodies that protect and give us life.
“For him to describe this as draconian is quite unfortunate and in fact, the minister must resign for making that statement because he clearly doesn’t really understand the issues and he is not fit to occupy that position with that kind of thinking cap.
“For us to have 2.5 million hectares of our forest reserve decimated by the activities of galamsey means a whole country is wiped by the activities of a few evil men,” he said Citi FM.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, September 11, Mr Dwumfour outlined several demands that the GJA believes are crucial to ending the canker.
Key among these demands is for the president to declare a state of emergency over water bodies and equip the military to remove anyone found mining in these areas.
Additionally, Mr. Dwumfour called for an immediate cessation of mining activities within 100 meters of river bodies and buffer zones, as well as the repeal of Legislative Instrument (LI) 2462, which regulates some mining activities.
He stressed that political parties must show their commitment by publicly endorsing these demands, warning that the nation is at risk of severe environmental degradation if decisive actions are not taken.