According to him, the work done by government so far to clamp down on the illegality, is far from being described as successful.

[contextly_sidebar id=”iLGqV2exJgkHIFBVAypuWjBaH0JdbI53″]“Over a high point of 10, I will give about 5.5. In this galamsey fight, we have not arrested the people who are creating the networks, who are allowing the foreigners to do this. You cannot just come in without complicity and collusion from very important Ghanaians.”

“My suggestion is that, lets get the corruption underpinning galamsey right. Arrest those people, try them so that when we launch the mega nationwide corruption campaign, at least we know the political economy, the nationalities, the networks, the way the monies are hidden. So there is a long way to go before we can say the fight against galamsey is a success, we are far from it. We haven’t scratched the surface yet,” he said in an interview with Richard Sky on Eyewitness News.

He further said he was surprised the Commander of the government’s anti-galamsey taskforce, Operation Vanguard, seemed shocked over the discovery of sophisticated firearms being used by the illegal miners.

Col. Agyapong in an earlier interview with Citi News said, “One striking thing is the number of arms, weapons we came across. We came across as many of 58 different types of weapons. Pistols, single and double barrels, pump action guns both locally made and foreign ones. As a military personnel, it is worry that plying a simple trade like mining will have people come on board with weapons. It is a very worrying situation that we need to look at it because we don’t know the number of weapons that are still in the hands of people”.

But according to Kwesi Anning, that should have been anticipated.

“If they are surprised they found these guns in civilian hands, what were their threat perception analysis before they went out into the bush. That is very disturbing, not so much that the guns are in the hands of civilians, because that is known, but that head of such a sensitive operation did not know that these guns were in civilian hands,” Kwesi Anning said.

“We ought to have had a certain level of intelligence. So if we didn’t know that these things are out there, I am truly flabbergasted….,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Operation Vanguard is calling for more support from government to enable it to become more efficient in its operation. It said getting more vehicles will enhance its work.

The deployment of the joint police and military task-force came as a major boost to government’s fight against illegal mining in the country, following news of its devastating effects on the country’s land and water resources.

Government placed a six-month ban on all forms of mining until further notice, but later extended the ban to January 2018, because the needed result has not been achieved.

Punishment for ‘galamseyers’ too weak – Operation Vanguard commander

Colonel William Agyapong, the outgoing Commander of Operation Vanguard, also expressed worry about the weight of punishment meted out to illegal miners after they have been arrested by the anti-galamsey task-force.

According to him, the sentences given by the judiciary to the suspects were not deterrent enough, and was a major disincentive to the fight against illegal mining in the country.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Galamsey fight far from being successful – Kwesi Anning appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, galamsey has grown to become a major source of livelihood for many people, hence stakeholders must apply some tact in dealing with it.

[contextly_sidebar id=”YFY481Ng0ZWTODUtFZvnmTsU4RhIg0ZN”]Speaking on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, Dr. Aning said “I’ll plead with those who matter in the decision making that they should not be violent, because galamsey has become people’s livelihoods over twenty years, we need a dialogue kind of process and a bold attempt at finding alternative livelihood to let people change what they have been doing. Any attempt at using a violent intimidating means will end in some bloodshed and I think we’ve already heard, seen and experienced some.”

He noted that, the activities of galamsey operators was backed by a strong network of people within and outside the country, which makes dealing with it more complex than it appears.

“Since this menace has spread all over this country; it has some really strong network both domestic and international. I will argue that we need a conversation around changing the activity and replacing them with other less environmentally harmful activities.”

He said proper intelligence must be gathered to identify all the players in the galamsey ring and their mode of operation to make a fight against galamsey successful.

“In trying to come to grips with the galamsey, we need to use intelligent approaches to identify the network that underpins, supports, incentivize, purchase and smuggles this gold outside this country. This is a much bigger problem,” he said.

“Galamsey is an existential threat to Ghana and to our communities, but in dealing with this kind of particular existential threat, violence is not the first strategy that we need to use because the state of Ghana has not mapped out the problem in the first place,” he added.

The government is being confronted with the challenge of galamsey in the country, which has resulted in Ghana losing most of its fresh water bodies and fertile lands.

Many communities have been devastated by the lasting negative impact of illegal mining.

In spite of the fact that Ghana’s laws are clear on illegal mining, the activity has been allowed to continue for more than two decades.

Citi FM has been at the forefront of media advocacy for a decisive and firm action from the government in dealing with the menace with various inside and out-of-studio events.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has said his government is working to develop a policy that will deal with galamsey in the country.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post Don’t be violent in fighting galamsey – Kwesi Aning appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the continent must deal with Mr Jammeh in a straightforward manner.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, Dr Aning said more stringent measures should be taken since he has disregarded all the necessary diplomatic procedures extended to him.

“When former President Mahama visited Gambia, the psychological game there was that Mr Mahama sends a signal to Mr Jammeh that there was life after Presidency, but you see, it is not always that you can play a decent diplomatic game with a person who does not understand the basic laws and principles of diplomacy,” Kwesi Aning said.

“It has become necessary that the appropriate articles under ECOWAS’ protocols be invoked and if we need to fight to preserve the molecule of respect for ECOWAS,” he added.

There is a political stalemate in the West African country as the President, Yahya Jammeh has resolved not to step down

ECOWAS leaders have failed on two occasions to convince Mr Jammeh to step down.

Jammeh, days after conceding defeat in the elections, raised allegations of malpractices and filed a motion to challenge the results in the Supreme Court.

The country had been without a functional Supreme Court for two years, after Mr. Jammeh sacked some Supreme Court judges for ruling against his government in a case against affecting ex-military chiefs.

The country’s Chief Justice, Emmanuel Fagbenle, pulled out of the case filed by Jammeh, seeking to stop the inauguration of President-elect Adama Barrow.

Other senior officers in Mr. Jammeh’s government including the Ministers of Trade, Environment, Finance and recently Foreign Affairs, have all resigned, spelling more doom for Mr. Jammeh.

There are reports of many citizens and tourists fleeing the country ahead of Thursday’s inauguration of President-elect Adama Barrow who is currently in Senegal until the swearing-in.

‘Military intervention in Gambia’

Parliamentarians in Gambia on Monday, January 16, 2017, passed a resolution demanding that ECOWAS Heads of State Authority desist from using force to remove Mr. Jammeh from office.

The legislators say a peaceful means must be employed to settle the political stalemate, stating that the Gambia was a sovereign nation and its constitution must be respected.

‘State of emergency’

Yahya Jammeh, on Tuesday, declared a 90-day state of emergency in the West African country.

He did not give details for his declaration in the public announcement.

‘Parliamentarians extend President’s rule’

Meanwhile, the Parliament in Gambia has extended the rule of current President Yahya Jammeh by 90 days.

The House passed the resolution on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, a day before Mr Jammeh’s term in office, officially expires.

‘Adama Barrow’s swearing-in in limbo’

The inauguration of President-elect Adama Barrow is currently in limbo.

BBC Africa correspondent, Umaru Fofana told the Citi Breakfast Show currently in Gambia said Barrow’s inauguration might not happen. “To be honest everything seems to be up in the air, nobody is sure what will happen in the next minute… By midnight tonight, his [Jammeh’s] tenure should end, but Parliament extended his mandate yesterday, the legitimacy of that is being challenged. The opposition collation assured me that they will go ahead with their inauguration tomorrow but that was before the state of emergency declaration. Due to the emergency declaration, large gatherings will not be allowed and I honestly can’t see how an inauguration ceremony will go ahead tomorrow with a state of emergency,” he opined.

‘Nigeria’s warship’

There were reports that Nigeria has dispatched a warship to Gambia following the political crisis but Fofana said “at this moment, the Nigerian military source told the BBC that they were not coming to fire any shot at least for a start.”

“If there is cooperation it will end that way but we are not sure what is happening,” he added.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post Blame African leaders for Gambia crisis – Kwesi Aning appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.