The Second Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural, Hon. George Mireku Duker has held a short press conference to brief the media on the latest outcome of the four gold dealers who were arrested for unlawfully dealing in gold and money laundry.
The Deputy Minister’s conference is coming on the back of a conviction secured at a Tarkwa Circuit Court presided over by her ladyship Hathia Ama Manu against some two Ghanaians and two Chinese.
The four convicted are namely; Stephen Arthur and Prince Denis Aidoo from Ghana as well as Chen Hung and Chen Zhili from China.
At the press briefing, the Deputy Minister who spoke on behalf of the substantive Minister stated that the mining sector especially the small scale miners have been recording an upsurge of foreign invasion and smuggling and hence government’s intensified efforts to clamp them down.
He said, “Government is committed to sanitizing the mining sector to curb the escalation of smuggling of gold to neighboring countries”.
Hon. Duker emphasized that the recent Press Release by the Office of the Attorney-General on the subject of the conviction of the Chinese and Ghanaian illegal gold dealers is testimony to Government’s commitment to the fight.
The two Chinese nationals were found liable to pay a fine of 120,000 penalty units (Ghs 1,440,000) each or in default serve 15years each in prison.
The two Ghanaians were, also, fined 100,000 and 120,000 penalty units (Ghs 1,200,000 & Ghs 1,440,000) respectively, or in default serve prison terms of 10 years and 15 years, respectively.
Hon. Duker added that the conviction by the court and the severity of the penalties imposed are clear evidence of Government’s resolve to fight illegalities in the mining sector.
He recounted that Government in 2019 decided that the sanctions applicable to illegal mining were not severe enough to provide the warranted deterrence and hence passed Act 995 to amend and make the sanctions stiffer.
It is, therefore, Act 995 which imposes the penalties that have been applied by the court and which is expected to deter those who will be tempted to undertake illegal activities associated with mining.
This is to sound a word of caution to persons involved in illegal mining activities, especially in water bodies and forest reserves. Those involved in gold smuggling and other related activities should also take note.
He said, other initiatives to fight this “Galamsey” menace include; Government launching “Operation Halt II” to clamp down on illegal miners.
Additional to that, Government is collaborating with the Ghana National Association
of Small-Scale Miners to flush out illegal miners within the industry.
“On 30th September this year, seven (7) foreigners were arrested by a task force led by myself in the Birim North District. Government will not relent in its efforts at ensuring sanity within our mining space,” he stressed
