On Monday, an audio visual device was discovered at the office of the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Peter Amewu.

[contextly_sidebar id=”TH30GNawR4kkLch7QM1xj4UB8wv31DF1″]Mr. Insuah Fuseini subsequently claimed ownership of the device, explaining that he installed it in 2013 for his personal protection because he took up the fight against illegal mining also known as Galamsey in the country.

But the Majority Leader believes Mr. Fuseini failed to do due diligence for not informing his successor about the said device.

“If indeed it is true, why would he not alert the Minister following after him. If it is predicated on open conscience why would he not inform the person who took over from him?” Mr. Kyei Mensah queried.

He also indicated that the Minister of National Security has since the development, been “taking some measures” to ensure that it gets to the bottom of the matter.

He also criticized the Minority for focusing on issues that in his view are of less significance.

“I am of the candid opinion that an opposition group, should be responding to issues of merit and substance, not trivialities as they are doing, and I will suggest to them that very soon, they reduce themselves to sheer obstructionists in this country because they are not addressing matters of merit and substance.”

I feel ‘naked’ after discovery of spying device – Nii Osah Mills

His comments come hours after the immediate past Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Nii Osah Mills expressed shock and disappointment over the discovery of the secret audio visual recording device in the office he previously occupied.

According to him, the revelation by his colleague, Inusah Fuseini, who said he fixed the device in the office for his personal use, is unfair because he [Osah Mills] has apparently been under secret surveillance while in office.

Speaking to Citi News, Nii Osah Mills, who served in that Ministry after Inusah Fuseini, said he feels “naked” after the revelation.

“It came as a surprise to me to hear on the news that such a device has been found in the room I used to occupy. I thought and I do feel that I was being monitored. Any ordinary human being will equally feel bad because it is something that you least expected. One feels that in the sense one was naked at work each day because I think one was creeping around and looking at everything that you did. It’s a very bad feeling,” he lamented.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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According to him, the state owes it a responsibility to treat former leaders well.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9zPpVEdoY9bieDBK6cKVUqHigaQrkzbA”]Mr. Osah Mills was commenting on a recent revelation that former President Jerry John Rawlings requested that some state lands be allocated to him for his foundation.

Following the approval of the request, the former President requested additional acres of land saying the project demanded a lot of infrastructural development.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, the former minister said, Mr. Rawlings has already been in occupation of the land, however, the letter to the Lands Commission requesting an extension was only to formalize his use of the space.

“You can be in occupation of space, but it doesn’t mean that you are entitled to have it always, and the situation can change when your occupation is formalized, so we should all take it that this was a formalization of a situation,” Nii Osah Mills said.

Asked by the host, Richard Sky whether it was noble to give state assets and lands to former and present national leaders as emoluments, Mr. Osah Mills said it was fair.

“In my opinion, if you serve as a President of a country and you finish your work, it is only fair if the state looks after you well and looking after somebody well starts from ensuring that the person has an abode.”

He added that, it was important for the state to provide an official residence for retiring heads of state, rather than make a monthly payment for private residences for the heads of state after leaving office.

“If we build a simple house for a former head of state on a government plot, I see that as not such a drain on our purse, and that can be managed because we have four years to prepare for that and we can set a budget and do it,” Nii Osah Mills said.

‘Mahama in retirement homes controversy’

There has been a major controversy over the provision of a retirement home for former President John Mahama.

Following his exit from office as President, John Mahama requested that he maintained his presidential residence as his retirement home.

This was against the Prof Francisca Dora Edu-Buandoh committee report on Emoluments and conditions of service for Article 71 office holders which recommended that retiring presidents be given 40% of their salary as payment of rent for their private residence.

Prior to approval of the report, former Presidents were entitled to an official retirement residence and office state to be provided by the state.

A huge public outcry over Mahama’s request to keep the residence, resulted in his subsequent withdrawal of the request which he said was to avoid hurting the relationship between himself and current President, Nana Akufo-Addo.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said the government would go to every length to make sure that there was compliance with the various environmental, health and safety measures put in place to protect the environment and the lives of people in the mining communities.

He warned that unsafe practices that could create health and environmental hazards would not be tolerated.

The Minister said this in an address read for him at the 2016 inter-mines safety and first aid competition hosted by the Perseus Mining Ghana Limited, at Gyaman, near Ayanfuri, in the Central Region.

It was organized by the Ghana Chamber of Mines in collaboration with the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission and the Saint John Ambulance, to highlight the central role that health and safety played in the mining industry.

The event was held under the theme “Safety, our way of life” and on hand to participate, were four companies – Goldfields (Ghana) Limited Tarkwa Mine, Golden Star Mines, Chirano Mines and Perseus Mines.

Nii Osah Mills applauded the mining companies for their untiring effort to create a safe and conducive environment, something, which had helped to drastically reduce accidents at the mining sites and in the communities.

The same could however not be said about the activities of illegal miners, which had continued to destroy the land, pollute streams and river bodies, alongside the absence of safety measures, resulting in many accidents – deaths.
He underlined the need for chiefs, opinion leaders and all stakeholders to accept to work together to rein in the illegal miners.

Mr. Sulemanu Koney, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said safety was a major priority of the mining industry.

That was why mining companies were placing greater emphasis and investments to create safe working conditions for their employees and people in the mining communities.

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Source: GNA

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