President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the National Security Council believes the galamsey fight can be won without a state of emergency.
According to John Mahama, the National Security Council has not advised him on a declaration of a state of emergency, and once they do, he will not hesitate to declare it.
Speaking during a stakeholder engagement on illegal mining in Accra, the President stated, “Yes, I have the power to do it. But the president acts not only on his authority but also on the advice of the National Security Council…as of now, the National Security Council believes that we can win the fight against galamsey without a state of emergency”.
The day they advise me otherwise — that now we need a state of emergency — I will not hesitate in declaring it,” he added.
Mahama added, “We still believe we have the power to win this fight”.
Also, the Director of Operations of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), Col. Dominic Buah, has said illegal miners are the prime enemies of the state.
He said, “Mr. President, with your permission, I would like to send this warning to illegal miners, their assigns, and financiers. They are the first or prime enemies of the state, and they will be dealt with as such. There will be no room for them to escape or to hide. NAIMOS will smoke them out very soon; there is no resting place for them,” Col. Buah said.
Col. Buah added, “They should get ready and be assured that very soon our waters will turn blue and our forests will turn green. We have already trained over 400 troops who are the first batch deployed or are under deployment to sensitive areas. We will continue to deploy more so that we will all go to bed knowing that NAIMOS is firmly on the ground and illegal mining will be a thing of the past.”
“All illegal miners, galamseyers, and financiers, beware. NAIMOS is closer to your bases, and there will be no hiding place for you”, he added.
Additionally, Dominic Ayine, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, has revealed that the government will repeal the infamous Legislative Instrument (LI) 2462, which allows mining in forest reserves.
According to the Attorney General, LI 2505 will be laid in Parliament to repeal infamous LI 2462.
Speaking during the stakeholder engagement on illegal mining assembled by President John Dramani Mahama in Accra on Friday, October 3, Dr Ayine stated, “We have prepared an instrument that is LI 2505 in my office, and that will be laid in Parliament on the 14th of October”.
“The Minister and I have agreed that on the 14th of October, when Parliament resumes, we will lay that instrument to revoke the famous LI 2462,” he added.
Also, the Attorney General revealed, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, will face prosecution on Monday, October 6.
He stated, “I am happy to announce that in 2022, the police conducted a very diligent investigation in terms of Akonta Mining, but the dockets were hidden until we came to power.
It was when I came in and began the investigation with the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and the Forestry Commission, we were finding it difficult to get information on the case. It was then that the police themselves owned up and presented that docket to my office two months ago”.
“As we speak, the charges against Chairman Wontumi and Akonta Mining and five others have been signed. Currently, we are waiting for his rights to be read to him, and he has the right to remain silent before he is brought from Kumasi.
“His lawyers asked that he be brought on Tuesday, but I insisted that he be here on Monday. If he does not come on Monday, I am going to order his arrest so that he is brought to Accra and then we can start the prosecution,” Dr. Ayine added.