The government will soon roll out a well-thought-out strategy to deal with the menace of illegal mining in the country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said. He described illegal mining as a complex phenomenon with widespread interests and forces which required a comprehensive policy and legislation to deal with.

He said the government was therefore working to deal with the problem.

He was responding to a question during a media interaction in Kumasi last Saturday as part of his three-day visit to the Ashanti Region.

The President explained that Ghanaians would have the opportunity to examine the effectiveness of the policy to be introduced sooner than later and promised that it would be comprehensive and that embedded in it was the objective to deal with the menace once and for all.

Piecemeal

He said  the “piecemeal” approach that had characterised efforts to end the menace had not been effective.

“We need a comprehensive policy which may even involve legislation,” he stated.

President Akufo-Addo said the widespread nature of galamsey, as well as the “forces and interests” involved, required a holistic approach to the phenomenon.

“I don’t think we are going to be able to deal with it effectively by piecemeal measure,” he stressed.

He said the government was working on a document which would be unveiled in the coming days.

Background

Last week, the Minister of Mines and Natural Resources, Mr Peter Amewu, issued a three-week ultimatum to all illegal miners in the country to halt their activities or face the wrath of the government.

The Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) and other media partners will, tomorrow, launch a media campaign against illegal mining.

The campaign involves mobilising at least one million signatures to urge the government to act on the menace of illegal mining.

Free SHS

President Akufo-Addo noted that there were some doubting Thomases who rubbished his free SHS policy and expressed the hope that with his bold decision to commit resources to the programme, as captured in the budget that had been approved by Parliament, those people would eat humble pie and embrace the policy.