Ghanaian media personality Afia Pokua, commonly known as Vim Lady, has said that the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Armah Kofi Buah, Blue Water Guards is a useless and bogus venture.
According to Afia Pokua, the launch of the Blue Water Guards is causing financial loss to the state, adding that the Lands and Natural Resources Minister must be held responsible.
Afia Pokua stressed that the launch of the Blue Water Guards has contributed nothing to the fight against illegal mining.
Afia Pokua is quoted to have said, “Since Mahama came to power, the water has never been clear. Even under Akufo-Addo, we saw signs that the water was clear; it was only when he opened the floodgates for party boys to mine that he had problems.
This government introduced the Blue Water Guards, but they have been the most ineffective way to fight illegal mining. The minister has seen that the blue water guards are a useless and bogus venture that has caused the state financial loss,” she said.
She further alleged that NAIMOS have been taking gold from illegal miners instead of arresting them.
It will be recalled that the Mahama government deployed some Blue River Guards, specifically trained by the Ghana Navy.
The Guards are to protect and monitor water bodies in mining areas affected by illegal mining activities.
According to the Land Minister, Emmanuel Armarh Kofi Buah, the guards are to serve as the ears and eyes of the Security Forces.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has confessed that illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, involves individuals across political and traditional structures.
According to John Mahama, he will not kid himself that his own party people are not involved in the galamsey menace.
President Mahama highlighted that the fight against the galamsey menace will be difficult but must continue.
Mahama stressed that operators often shift allegiance when governments change, allowing the practice to continue.
Speaking during a meeting with Organised Labour at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, March 17, President Mahama stated, “Illegal mining has eaten into the fabric of our society. And I must say that it is not only a menace to our society, but it has involved a circle of traditional rulers, political party appointees and everything”.
“Even when one party changes, those who were running some operation, who went to one party, will go to the next party and say, now that you have come, come and take over this operation and let’s share. We, too, will be getting small; this is what we are doing. And so I don’t kid myself that we don’t have our own people involved,” he stated.
President Mahama further touched on the work of the anti-illegal mining task force NAIMOS, describing it as challenging, especially in communities where resistance is strong.
He added, “And the work of the NAIMOS is not easy. They go to a community, and the chiefs, the youth and everybody come out and resist them. And so, I didn’t kid myself that we would be able to win that fight overnight. But we cannot relent, we must continue”.
“And it doesn’t help when we have a crisis in the cocoa industry. The low price that was paid to cocoa farmers made some of them give up their farms for gold mining,” he noted.
“We are hoping that it will stabilise with the new automatic mechanism we are coming up with so that farmers know that they are getting 70% of the price,” he said.
“One of the problems we have is we don’t have patrol boats, especially on our waterways, for nine months to continue to patrol the waterways,” he explained.
Mahama further added that the Finance, Defence and Interior ministries are working to provide the necessary resources.
“So, we are working with the minister of finance to be able to maintain that,” he said.