By Godwill Arthur-Mensah

Accra, Feb. 15, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Friday paid a courtesy call on Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to brief him on government’s planned mining and forest sub-sector reforms. 

The courtesy call was to seek Otumfuo’s support and guidance towards achieving the policies and programmes outlined by the Ministry. 

The Lands Minister eulogised Asantehene for his outstanding and exemplary leadership, which was manifested in ensuring litigation-free land-related matters in the Ashanti Region. 

Mr Buah lauded Asantehene for some of the major interventions he made over the years. 

The Minister decried the devastating impact of galamsey, noting that 44 of the country’s 288 forest reserves had been devastated by illegal mining activities, with turbidity level of the major water bodies moving from 5,000 NTU to 12000. 

Mr Buah outlined some immediate and radical initiatives taken by the government to address the illegal mining menace.  

He mentioned the establishment of an 18-member working committee of experts, to review the licensing regime, re-classification of the mining categories, and overhauling of the Community Mining Schemes. 

“We are grateful for Otumfuo advice and support for the reset agenda that we have embarked on. 

“We’ve laid out a plan to deal with key initiatives, and it started with the inauguration of the 18-member working committee. We are also reclassifying the mining categories and introducing medium-scale mining. 

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II commended the Lands Minister for the visit and expressed confidence in him to deliver on his mandate. 

He urged heads of Agencies and other officials under the ministry to give the Minister the necessary support. 

Otumfuo admonished Armah-Kofi Buah to address the root cause of the illegal mining menace. 

He asserted that if the youth in the mining areas were exposed to meaningful and sustainable sources of livelihoods, they would resist the temptation of mining in water bodies and forest reserves. 

He also encouraged the government to go after the “big fishes” in the galamsey business, and prosecute them, instead of focusing only on the youth involved in the illegal act. 

He urged the Ministry to develop an alternative livelihood programme to cater for their basic needs. 

On the issue of public lands, Otumfuo advised the Minister to ensure that the phenomenon of indiscriminate sale of public lands to political exposed persons and should be halted under his tenure 

He commended the Minister for the aggressive afforestation initiative and pledged his support for the project, describing the “Tree of Life” initiative as laudable. 

GNA 

“I have made no changes to my office since assuming office as Ag. MD for the PMMC on 20th January 2025. All the things in my office, including the chair, desk, fridge etc. were there before I assumed office. Not even the A4 sheets or pens on my office desk have been changed. This fact can easily be verified by any reasonable person.”

Gyamfi urged the public to verify the information before accepting claims made by communicators and social media affiliates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

President John Dramani Mahama has advocated urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).  

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany, President Mahama reiterated that the UNSC reform was necessary to reflect the current geopolitical reality. 

The Munich Security Conference, which brings together leaders worldwide, is a crucial platform for dialogue on international security.  

President Mahama said the UN itself had carried out many reforms, in terms of trying to increase efficiency in all the agencies that it had; saying “but one place that has remained static, archaic, a moribund, is the Security Council”.  

He said the developing world and the third world had been advocating constantly for a reform of the Security Council in order that it responds to the realities of today’s world. 

“Unfortunately, we’re not speaking with one voice. I think that the main issue that is a stumbling block to the reform of the Security Council is the question of the veto,” President Mahama said. 

“And so, I think that one, let’s expand the Council, let’s add additional permanent members. And after we have expanded the Council, we can discuss the veto.” 

President Mahama reiterated that the veto should not be a stumbling block in adding permanent members to the Security Council.  

He said however, that was one aspect of the United Nations that was in need of urgent reform to respond to today’s challenges. 

“The UN becomes more relevant even today in a fragmented world, because when there’s fragmentism, we need more multilateralism. We need more global cooperation,” he stated.  

“We have more challenges today, climate change and all that. We need to work together. We can’t leave this planet.  

This is the only planet we have. And the only way we can save this planet is if we are working together.” 

He said that was why the UN was even more important today than it was even after the end of the Second World War.  

“And so, we need to take the bull by the horns. We need to reform the Security Council. And we all need to work together to make this planet habitable for us.” President Mahama stated. 

Source: GNA  

Newsfile is today lining up five distinct voices to deal with the vexed matters of our times, with the programme hosted as usual, by Samson Lardy Anyenini, the devil’s advocate.

• Dr. Justice Srem-Sai – Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana School of Law, Legon, and Deputy Attorney General Designate. Dr. Srem-Sai is a distinguished legal scholar and an expert in constitutional and administrative law.
• Frank Davies, Esq. – Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Committee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). He is a seasoned lawyer and a key figure in Ghana’s legal and political landscape.
• Bright Simons – Honorary Vice President of IMANI-Africa. A thought leader in governance, policy analysis, and innovation, Bright Simons is widely respected for his insightful contributions to national discourse.
• Samuel Appiah Darko – Director of Strategy, Research & Communication at the Office of the Special Prosecutor. He plays a pivotal role in shaping the communication and research strategies of the anti-corruption body.
• Daniel Domelevo – Former Auditor-General and Member of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) Committee. With vast experience in public financial management, Domelevo has been a vocal advocate for accountability and transparency in governance.

Topics for Discussion:

1. The controversial declaration of former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, as a fugitive from justice by the Special Prosecutor.
2. President John Dramani Mahama facing scrutiny as critics label him the “Chief Clearing Agent” following the discontinuation of several high-profile corruption cases.
3. The Chief of Staff’s directive ordering a mass annulment of public sector appointments made after December 7, 2024.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

Veteran journalist and politicians, Elizabeth Ohene, has narrated supposed events that transpired at the home of the late former president, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, during his failed military takeover on May 15, 1979.

In an editorial published on thebftonline.com, Elizabeth Akua Ohene, who indicated she had close relations with Rawlings, said she went to their home after hearing of the failed coup on the radio.

She said that when she got to the home of the Rawlingses, former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings was there alone with her newborn baby.

“From the office, I went straight to see how Mrs Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings was doing, with her husband, Flt Lt Rawlings, in the news as trying to stage a coup d’état. (She and her husband were friends of mine).

“When I got to their home, she was there alone with her almost one-year-old baby. I stayed with her, and we tried to make sense of the situation facing her,” she wrote.

Elizabeth Ohene, a former chairperson of the board of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and former Minister of State, said that while she was keeping the former First Lady company, some military men came to the house.

After knocking, she wrote that they asked to be allowed in to conduct a search of the premises, which she challenged.

“A knock came at the door, and I went to see to it. I half-opened the door and stuck my head out and saw a man wearing a smock standing on the doorstep. He gave me his name, with a military title rank, showed me an ID, and added that he was there with his colleagues to search the house.

“At that stage, I noticed there were two other men standing some short distance away. I took a deep breath, took in the situation, and came outside wholly, closing the door behind me instead of standing in the halfway-opened door. I asked the officer if he had a search warrant and if I could see it before I let him into the house,” she narrated.

She indicated that, to her surprise, the military heeded her demands and left.

“The officer looked a bit startled, started to say something, changed his mind, turned his face to look at his two colleagues, and then said to me he didn’t have a search warrant. I told him he couldn’t come in to search the place without a warrant.

“He took a deep breath and asked me if I knew what had been happening in the country that day. I said yes, I knew. ‘And you know that the person responsible lives here,’ he said. I nodded and said to him: ‘Please, officer, don’t let us use illegal means to fight illegal activities. You must be on the straight and narrow if you represent the law.’ He stared at me silently, turned around, walked to his colleagues, and they went into their car and drove off,” she added.

The former Minister of State indicated that the military left and later returned as expected, but, to her surprise, they came with a warrant.

She said that she allowed them in, and they professionally carried out the search.

“There was no drama, and I don’t think even the people in the next apartment noticed that there had been any visit from the security services. The search was meticulous but very civilised, and I am not certain about this, but I think when they were about to leave, the officer muttered a ‘thank you’,” she added.

The former SSNIT board chairperson recounted this event while reacting to the raid on the former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, by security officials, including military men.

She wondered how security officials could raid the home of a person in this day and age without any warrant when, in the days of a military regime, officers acted professionally.

“In the year of our Lord, 2025, 33 years into the longest stretch of constitutional rule we have ever had, armed soldiers are led by a man of no publicly determined official status into the home of a former finance minister.

“They rudely brush aside the staff, enter the house, and proceed to conduct a hostile and illegal search. They go through kitchen and cutlery drawers, fridges, freezers, cupboards, closets, underneath beds, books, documents, plates, pots and pans, clothes, and linen. They take the car keys and thoroughly ransack the cars, leaving the people in the house thoroughly shaken and traumatised,” she wrote.

Background:

On Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), while updating the public on its ongoing investigations at a press conference in Accra, declared Ken Ofori-Atta wanted.

The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, declared Ofori-Atta a fugitive wanted for corruption and corruption-related offences in a number of cases his office was investigating, including the loss reduction contract between ECG and Beijing Jao, procurement over the National Cathedral, contracts awarded by the Health Ministry to Service Ghana Auto Limited/Ambulances, and the SML-GRA deal.

He accused the former minister of orchestrating a recently reported raid of his residence by alleged military personnel to discredit the OSP.

The raid and the wanted notice against Ofori-Atta were heavily debated in Ghana’s Parliament.

Members of the Minority Caucus—New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs—slammed the use of the military to raid Ofori-Atta’s home, while their colleagues in the Majority Caucus argued that the previous NPP government did worse.

The leader of the Minority Caucus, Mahama Ayariga, confirmed that the raid did happen.

The leader of the Majority Caucus subsequently apologised to Ofori-Atta and the public over the raid.

BAI/AE