The leadership of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners has strongly rejected calls by sections of the public for a nationwide ban on small-scale mining.
This follows the August 6 tragic military helicopter crash near Adansi-Akrofuom in the Ashanti Region, which claimed the lives of eight officials, including two Ministers of State and several military officers, who were on their way to an event focused on tackling illegal mining and promoting responsible mining practices.
The victims of the crash include Defence Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator, Muniru Mohammed, former parliamentary candidate, Samuel Aboagye, and NDC Vice Chairman, Samuel Sarpong.
Also killed in the accident were Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
In the wake of the tragedy, some Ghanaians have renewed calls for the government to suspend small- scale mining in the country.
However, the Association disagrees, insisting that the focus should be on determining the exact cause of the crash rather than targeting the mining industry.
Speaking to Channel One News on Wednesday, August 13, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Association, Michael Adu-Gyamfi, argued that small-scale mining has no connection to the accident and described the calls for a ban as “unfortunate.” He further urged the government to channel resources into ensuring such a tragedy does not happen again.
“We are very concerned about the calls from some Ghanaians following the helicopter crash, which seem to create the impression that there should be a ban on small-scale mining. We believe that linking the incident to small-scale miners is very unfortunate.
“If you look at the incident, it is entirely different from small-scale mining, though we acknowledge and accept that they were on a mission for an event related to the sector. When you connect the two, it makes us lose focus. We should instead concentrate on identifying the actual causes of the accident,” he said.
