As ‘Galamsey’ Mineral Commission Boss Sells Community Mining Sites
The Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Martin Kwaku Ayisi, has come under allegations of selling off community mining sites that the government secured as part of efforts to regularize and control small scale mining.
According to reports, Mr. Ayisi has been selling off these designated sites to big mining corporations in the country.
The alleged sale does not augur well for the new Mahama government because it is basically throwing a wrench into the government’s fight against illegal mining.
A Community Mining area is land that has been designated by the Minister responsible for Mines to encourage responsible mining by the community in accordance with Act 703 or a portion of a concession of a large-scale mining lease that has been permitted for the purpose of the tributer system.
Community Mining is a new programme introduced by the government of Ghana aimed at formalizing illegal SSM (galamsey) in selected communities across the country and diverting the interest of the youth from illegal mining to properly regulated mining. Community Mining was specifically designed to respond to the wanton illegal mining that plagued the country.
It is not different from small-scal mining (SSM) in terms of its nature and regulation. SSM is a formalized method of mining regulated by the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703). .
Community Mining is a new programme introduced by the government of aimed at formalizing illegal SSM (galamsey) in selected communities across the country and diverting the interest of the youth from illegal mining to properly regulated mining. Community Mining was specifically designed to respond to the wanton illegal mining that plagued the country.
Pursuant to the fight against illegal mining, the government commissioned 15 CMS across the country from 98 mining concessions covering a land area of 2,174.94 acres to address the destruction caused by illegal mining.
The aim is to replace illegal mining with CMS.
According to the Minerals Commission, the thrust of this policy is to create jobs and improve livelihoods in mining communities. Further, it is to improve the working conditions of the mining operators and minimize environmental degradation caused by illegal SSM over the decades.
It is the lands that the government has secured for this that the Minerals Commission CEO is allegedly selling off to big mining companies.
As a relic of the Akufo-Addo era, the Martin Ayisi is rated as a man who is at least, guilty by association with the corrupt Akufo-Addo administration.
However, calls for president Mahama to remove him are said to have fallen on deaf ears due to the fact that Mr. Ayisi is allegedly being protected by a godfather at the Flagstaff House.