Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has said Former President John Dramani Mahama’s pledge to free imprisoned Ghanaian illegal miners was misunderstood.
The Former Tamale Central Member of Parliament(MP) explained that the position of the then National Democratic Congress(NDC) Presidential Candidate for the 2020 elections on releasing prisoners jailed for engaging in galamsey was in response to stated cases of unfair treatment against them.
He noted that while Ghanaian illegal miners were being jailed, their Chinese counterparts were only repatriated. A move he considers discriminatory against the Ghanaian illegal miners.
Former President John Dramani Mahama during a campaign tour ahead of the 2020 elections said “When we win power, all those arrested for engaging in galamsey would be given amnesty for them to come back. We believe that whatever law they flouted, they’re remorseful so we shall free them and give them another chance to work as galamseyers”.
But Alhaji Inusah Fuseini in an interview on Joy news monitored by MyNewsGh.com explained that “John Dramani Mahama’s statement must be put in context. Even now, the re-emergence of Aisha Huang has brought into sharp focus our treatment of Ghanaians at the galamsey sites. What he said in 2020 was that it was totally unacceptable to grant amnesty to foreigners who are engaged in illegalities and imprison Ghanaians. You were infringing upon the Constitutional position. You were treating people differently based on status. That is discrimination. So his [John Mahama’s] answer to that was that if the Chinese people can be given amnesty and not prosecuted for an offense that another Ghanaian had committed and is languishing in jail when I come I’ll give them amnesty”.
Alhaji Inusah Fuseini disclosed that while he served as Lands and Natural Resources Minister under President John Dramani Mahama, the government was threatened that it would lose some Chinese loans if it proceeded with the arrest and prosecution of Chinese citizens engaged in illegal mining. However, the threats did not deter their fight against the menace.
Mynewsgh.com
