Ban mining for 3 years – Prof Agyemang-Duah advises government
Chief Executive Officer of the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah does not see any wrong with the former Chairman of the New Patriotic Party Freddie Blay in opting to defend accomplices of the notorious illegal mining kingpin Aisha Huang.
Though Ghanaians expressed mixed reactions upon hearing the politician and legal practitioners’ decision due to what the illegal mining menace has caused the country, Professor Agyeman Duah on TV3 on 12th October 2022 said “I think Freddie Blay is right in terms of the constitution this should not be any issue just that the optics around it would not be too good”.
Professor Agyeman Duah decried that the fight against illegal mining will continue to be difficult given the deep political interest in it from most parts of the society as some officials in the Mahama administration were known to be into mining and currently, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party Bernard Antwi Boasiako is known to have gotten a licence whether legal or not to mine.
He added that in the municipalities and districts where mining takes place, it is either the DCE or Chief in the area is involved directly or indirectly. Even security personnel who should be aiding the fight are sometimes being compromised, making the fight a bit difficult.
“We need to mobilise the nation as a whole. The president meeting the chiefs is a bit too limited as the Chiefs alone cannot fight the illegal mining menace,” Prof Agyemang-Duah
The former United Nations Governance advisor also added that “it is not about being right or wrong but the management of the optics which is the perception of Ghanaians on this issue”.
He then complained that “it is no news that there are hypocrites and dishonest people in this fight and everybody knows it if the government was serious about this fight no senior member of this government will like to be associated with this crime”.
He reiterated that he would still advocate for the President to call a national dialogue on this menace and also take the bold decision of banning mining of all forms for three years to carefully spell out and lay out the procedures that will not let mining rather turn into an evil menace for the country
