Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Inusah Fuseini, has expressed disappointment in the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, over his approach to tackling illegal mining.
His disappointment follows Dr. Amoakohene’s issuance of a stern two-week ultimatum to illegal miners operating in forest reserves and waterways, warning them to vacate or face the full force of the law.
The regional minister reaffirmed his commitment to protecting natural resources and supporting President John Mahama’s vision of promoting responsible mining.
“Anyone in the forest reserve mining should vacate those places. We are giving them up to two weeks. If you are mining within the forest reserves and you don’t want to be on the bad side of the law, you have two weeks to leave the place,” Dr. Amoakohene declared.
Reacting to the ultimatum on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, February 8, Mr. Fuseini argued that illegal miners should not be given time to fold up.
He explained that allowing time for illegal miners to vacate the sites only exposes weaknesses in enforcement efforts.
“We don’t give criminals time to prepare. If someone defecates in your backyard and you catch them, you don’t give them time to clean it up—you order them to do it immediately,” he stressed.
He warned that such delays allow offenders to exploit loopholes in the system, making the fight against galamsey less effective.
Mr. Fuseini instead praised Professor Brown Klutse, the EPA boss, for her bold and decisive action in directly ordering illegal miners to leave forest reserves without hesitation.
“That is why I commend Prof. Brown Klutse, the EPA boss, when she went around ordering people to leave the forest reserves,” he noted.
He maintained that galamsey is an existential threat and must be tackled with full force, without offering illegal miners any grace period.