The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has refuted claims that its National Consultative Dialogue on illegal small mining across the country amounted to GHS 10 million without stating specifically how much was expended.
The allegation was made by the Member of Parliament for Tamale North and Deputy Ranking Member on the Lands Committee, Alhassan Suhuyini.
He said, GHS 2.14 million was used on the National Consultative Dialogue in Accra, another GHS 3.7 million was expended on that held in the Northern and Middle Belt with GHS 5.4 million going into regional tours summing up to over GHS10 million.
However, in a statement meant to set the records straight, the Lands Ministry disputed the accusation but failed to provide the actual amount spent on the campaigns.
“The attention of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has been drawn to a story in a section of the media, where the Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Hon. Alhassan Suhuyini, alleges that the Ministry spent GHS10,000,000 on 10 conferences and dialogues in the fight against galamsey. The Ministry wants to state, categorically, that the said allegation is false and has no factual basis”, part of the statement read.
While admitting to funding these dialogues, the Ministry said it ensured prudent use of the financial resources allocated in its expenditure and is ready to be held liable for any misappropriations if found.
“The cost of all these, and many other programmes and policies being implemented by the Ministry form part of the Ministry’s expenditure on the fight against illegal small scale mining. At the appropriate time, the state agencies charged with auditing the accounts of the Ministry will do their work as mandated by law and take the appropriate actions if any wrongdoing is detected.”
Alhassan Suhuyini has said the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources under whose auspices the conferences, dialogues, and tours were organized, has also failed to provide a detailed account of the expenditure expressing worry that despite this huge sum, the fight against galamsey has still come to naught.
Speaking on the back of President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address, Alhassan Suhuyini, maintained that the government has engaged in gross financial malfeasance amidst the current economic challenges.
He, therefore, disclosed that the Minority in parliament will trigger the necessary procedures to demand accountability from the government.
“This is why as a Minority, we have been demanding transparency in government expenditure. It is not for the partisanship of it, but for all Ghanaians to be sure that the economic challenges we are facing were brought on by our reckless expenses”.