The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has rejected claims that his organisation is promoting illegal mining, popularly known as “galamsey”.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Gyamfi said it was wrong to accuse a five-month-old statutory corporation of being responsible for an age-long national challenge.

“Let me clear some misconceptions that GoldBod is promoting ‘galamsey’. My simple question to them is, how can a five-month-old statutory corporation, GoldBod, be responsible for an age-long ‘galamsey’ problem?” he asked.

He explained that “galamsey” predates GoldBod and had already reached alarming levels before the company was established.

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According to him, the corporation’s role is clearly defined in law to promote sustainable and environmentally friendly mining practices, not to take over the statutory mandate to combat “galamsey”.

“The mandate to fight ‘galamsey’ lies with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and its allied agencies. But in stipulating our functions, Parliament said GoldBod, since you will be in that space, should support the fight,” he stated.

Highlighting the corporation’s achievements so far, Gyamfi said GoldBod has already provided GH¢5 million and five Toyota Hilux vehicles to the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) to boost its activities.

He stressed that these interventions demonstrate GoldBod’s commitment to being part of the solution.

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“So how can the same GoldBod, established to support the fight against illegal mining and actually resourcing the fight, be accused of promoting ‘galamsey’?” he asked.

MRA/VPO

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