The Trials of Abu Jinapor as Lands Minister

By Bala Ali
On the shoulders of a young man, the President found it prudent to hang a load of responsibility, whose glory is as heavy as its burden.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is one of the difficult sectors to manage. All the men and women who have been appointed to head this ministry, either did something great to win the hearts of the citizens or embarrass themselves.

The first to serve in this ministry under the Akufo-Addo led government was Mr John-Peter Amewu. He won the hearts of many as he took the fight against illegal small scale mining, other wise called galamsey, to the perpetrators. He proved to Ghanaians that he was ever prepared to rid the country off this protracted problem.

In the cause of time, he was reshuffled and taken to a different ministry for Mr Kwaku Asomah-Kyeremeh to take over. Under the leadership of Mr Asomah-Kyeremeh, illegal mining swallowed up the country as water bodies were polluted, land degraded and the forest cover depleted through the activities of illegal miners.

Thanks to the media! They brought to the knowledge of the public, the avaricious-inspired crime of those people who had put their selfish interest of amassing wealth over the collective good of the nation.

The government declared war against galamsey. As a result, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) was formed, with the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Professor Frimpong Boatang as the Chairman.

In the cause of doing its work, this Committee was found guilty of compromising the fight as some of their members were caught on tape receiving bribes to aid the very act they were charged to stop. The matter became worse when the son of the Chairman of the IMCIM was allegedly accused of engaging in galamsey. The result of this was the desolution of the IMCIM in January 2021.

It was under these circumstances that President Akufo-Addo appointed Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor as the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources. As if the burden of heading such a ministry was not enough for the young man, the President moved the fight against galamsey from MESTI to the Lands Ministry.

All eyes were on Mr Jinapor when he took over the fight against galamsey. Just like Mr Amewu, he took the fight to the illegal miners. With Operation Halt II, he ordered the consfitication and burning of excavators found near river bodies and forest reserves. His decision was condemned as legally unwise, with some lawyers arguing that it could lead to unnecessary payment of judgement debt against the state.

Nevertheless, he maintained his stance and with the support of the Attorney General, this decision was ultimately implemented. Some victims indeed took the state to court for judgement debt but the Attorney General won those cases.

The young man proved he was up to the task. Hurray, the polluted water bodies regained their purity! This perhaps influenced the withdrawal of Operation Halt II.

Hey, that was not the end of the trials of Mr Abu Jinapor! The young man was slapped with another trial that shook the four conners of nation. On 20th January 2022, when government and other businesses were resuming from the Christmas break, the Appiatse mining explosion disaster occured.

The whole town of appiatse was destroyed. People died while others suffered serious injuries. Being the minister responsible for this sector, Mr Jinapor had to face this trial too.

The young lawyer and politician had to face the music so he did. Mr Abu Jinapor started work immediately the Dr Mahamudu Bawumia led delegation visited the affected community to ensure that the injured received needed medical attention and other assistance.

Under his leadership, a three member Ministerial Committee was set up to look into the cause(s) of this unfortunate phenomenon. Through the findings of this Committee, Mr Jinapor slapped Maxam Corp Ltd with a fine of Six Million USD to appease the victims of the disaster.

This three member Ministerial Committee gave birth to the Appiatse Reconstruction Committee, which is composed of experts from different sectors. The Reconstruction Committee also birthed the Appiatse Support Fund, which has successfully raised monies for the Reconstruction of the community. Abu Jinapor has passed another trial.

While the young minister and his team were busily working around the clock to annihilate galamsey without endangering the livelihoods of the poor masses in the mining towns, the perpetrators of this ignoble act took went back to site to cause more harm.

Galamsey again became topical. This time around it was politicised. Despite the politicisation of the issue, Mr Abu Jinapor was never implicated in any way like his immediate predecessors, whom he took over from. Nobody could associate him with galamsey or any Galamsey deal.

Regardless, he felt the heat as the sector minister. I personally pittied him as his opponents fruitlessly tried to soil his hard won reputation. One day, as I watched him in the presence of President Akufo-Addo and members of the National Houses of Chiefs in Kumasi during a meeting on this subject, I felt for this young man.

In the wake of all these trials, Mr Abu Jinapor has proven himself to be a man of integrity and competence as we look up to him to end the age long galamsey menace.

Comerade Samuel Abu Jinapor, the youth of Ghana are proud of you so keep on soldiering

The author is a social commentator.