Operation Vanguard failed because MMDCEs were left out – Former Obuasi MCE

The former Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi, Kwasi Ofori Agyemang has ascribed the failure of Operation Vanguard in the galamsey fight to the non-involvement of MMDCEs.

The former MCE explained that the major bane to the success of Akufo-Addo’s fight was that they failed to involve the various metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, who know the terrain where such activities are prevalent.

Speaking on Akoma FM's weekend political show Wonsom, Mr Ofori Agyemang, who was MCE during the erstwhile Mahama administration, told host Aduanaba Kofi Asante Ennin that “because they left out the various MMDCEs in the Operation Vanguard’s strategy by the president, after investing millions of cedis, Ghana’s water bodies were still milky and muddy with the indications that the illegal mining is underway in various areas despite the brute force style of arresting the situation”.

He further recounted that during the Operation Vanguard regime, the soldiers were “deployed to an area even without the knowledge of the resident DCE and do you expect to win?”

His assessment stemmed from a discussion on last week’s national dialogue on small-scale mining under the auspices of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. The dialogue was to proffer long-standing solutions to the environmentally devastating menace.

The former MCE maintained that “even location for that national dialogue on Small Scale mining was a mistake because why must you discuss Galamsey issues in Accra? Those artisans who are main players of the show do not live in Accra, there are no Galamsey activities in Accra, so why didn’t we site the national dialogue at the epicenters of the small scale mining?” he quizzed.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the National Dialogue on Small Scale Mining for Broader Consultations to address the issues of small scale mining.

Various stakeholders within the mining value chain, traditional rulers and technocrats subsequently came together to dialogue and seek a long-lasting solution to the menace.

The former MCE is of the view that “until drastic measures are ensured with inclusion of all stakeholders including MMDCEs and the artisans who have been in the center of this topic, the national dialogue will just be much ado about nothing.”