The Media Relations Officer at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Paa Kwesi Schandorf, has dismissed suggestions that government’s scheduled meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) is an attempt to mute their concerns over illegal mining.
Speaking in an interview on TV3 on October 1, he explained that the meeting with CSOs on October 3 is to create an avenue for CSOs to appreciate government’s interventions and contribute their perspectives.
According to him, the exercise falls under the ministry’s existing strategy of stakeholder engagements and therefore is not an avenue to seek curry favours from the CSOs who have been criticising government on the issue.
“We have well over 60 civil society organisations who will be part of that particular conversation. If all of them turn up, how is anybody going to muffle or stifle their voices or gag them in anyway?”, Paa Kwesi Schandorf quizzed.
“After our conversation with them, if they still have points and germane issues that they want to raise, they’re at liberty to do so, but effectively we want them and all other relevant parties to understand first of, what government is doing, the latest raft of interventions and the vision of government to deal decisively with the menace of illegal mining and so it’s not a forum for, as it were, window dressing issues or turning the critics into favourable propagandists. That is not the objective of the meeting whatsoever”, Paa Kwesi Schandorf emphasised.
The meeting with CSOs is expected to take place at the Jubilee House on Friday, October 3 at 2pm.
In a letter signed by the Executive Secretary to the President, the engagement is to ensure a ‘frank dialogue’ with CSOs on the menace of illegal mining.
Already some CSOs are calling on government to declare a state of emergency and employ more radical approach to the fight against illegal mining.
It is expected that, these and related matters will be discussed at Friday’s meeting at the Jubilee House.
