Galamsey Fraud: Culprits will be dealt with – Gov’t

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said, the government of Ghana led by President Akufo-Addo is still focused on the fight against illegal mining widely known as galamsey and welcomes any efforts aimed at fighting the menace.

According to him, the government will examine the raw footage of the investigative piece by Anas Aremeyaw Anas which captured some officials of the committee taking bribes to compromise their roles in the fight.

Transcripts of the first part of the investigative piece christened ‘galamsey fraud’ uncovered massive scale of fraud perpetrated by some members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining.

Details from the investigative piece spearheaded by ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, however, point to a coordinated attempt by key members of the committee to derail the government and President Akufo-Addo’s efforts to fight the illegal mining menace.

A presidential staffer and Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining Charles Cromwell Bissue has been fingered as the foremost collaborator against efforts by President Akufo-Addo to fight the menace.

Addressing a press briefing in Accra on Thursday, 28 February 2019, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah told journalists that: “If any persons are found to have solicited monies or taken bribes to bend rules, the necessary action will be taken.”

“Government welcomes any support that is aimed at helping us win this fight because we are committed to this fight. We are happy to receive whatever help anybody has. We are a nation of men of different backgrounds who work in pursuant of the state agenda.

“We will not give timelines, the point we want to make clearly is that there is a documentary out there, there are some raw footage that serves as the basis to it. It’s of interest to the state and we will examine it. Work proceeds until we are told otherwise by our principals. So the work proceeds, if in the process of the fight there is information out there that somebody has compromised the fight, it is important to have access to it and to examine and then to take necessary actions,” he further detailed to Journalists Thursday morning.