MINISTERS PRESS BRIEFING

Good afternoon and welcome to our Sunday briefing

which comes to you live from Bolgatanga today.

This afternoon we have three (3) briefs for you.

1. Government Deepens support programs for

former illegal small scale miners.

2. Government makes further investments in cocoa

with the launch of Cocoa Forests Redd plus
program

3. Government rallies support for the election of

MMDCEs
1. Government Deepens support programs for
former illegal small scale miners

Government is deepening its support for former

illegal small scale gold miners through an enhanced
alternative livelihood program and community
mining initiatives that are currently being piloted in
parts of the country.

The Akufo-Addo administration boldy took on the

fight against illegal small scale mining in 2017 to
curb its negative impact on human lives and the
environment. The ban which lasted about 2years
has been supported by the Police and Military led
operation Vanguard and has successfully arrested
the hitherto fast deteriorating situation in small
scale mining.

Upon lifting of the ban, government has introduced

a number of measures to support former illegal
small scale miners.

- For those who want to remain in mining but do it

legally, government has introduced the
community mining concept through which
former illegal small scale miners are properly
registered, trained, given concessions to jointly
work on and properly tracked to ensure they
 mine responsibly. About 4500 miners have so far
been trained while some 3500 have already been
accredited.

President Akufo-Addo commissioned the first

community mining site in Wassa Amenfi district
recently. In the Ekrofuom district of the ashanti
region a second community mining site is being
parceled. While in Evalue district in the Nzema
East district piloting of community mining
concessions is soon to commence. The target is
top have at least about 50 such concessions by
October this year and then fully role out
nationwide from then. Community mining is to
ensure that the participants benefit from the God
given resources but do not risk lives nor damage
the environment. To this end about former
miners have been trained and their accreditation
has currently commenced.

- For those not interested in continuing with

Mining, the government has rolled out an
alternative livelihood program which seeks to
train them to work in other economic sectors.
The training covers skills such oil palm farming (3
million seedlings distributed in Ashanti Eastern
and Western region so far). Others being trained
 by local government ministry are in the areas of
Tailoring & dress making, welding and metal
fabrications, plumbing & carpentry. Females are
being trained in dressmaking and hairdressing.
6000 farmers in the last 2yrs. 3k more this year.

The expectation of government is that these

interventions will ensure that former miners
remain economically engaged even as the battle
against illegal small scale mining remains in gear.

2. Government makes further investments in

cocoa with the launch of Cocoa Forests Redd
plus program

On Friday October 4th Ghana will roll out a series of

interventions aimed at promoting a climate smart
cocoa regime in Ghana.

The interventions are led by Cocobod, Forestry

Commission , World Cocoa Foundation, CSOs in the
cocoa industry as well as other industry players.
Climate smart cocoa is the production of cocoa
without forest degradation but rather with
methods that instead enrich the vegetation cover
and nature.
By these interventions, cocoa farmers will be
supplied with seedlings of Indigenous tree species
to plant per acre. Farmers will also be encouraged
to desist from tree felling but instead nurture the
trees to provide cover for their cocoa farms.
Farmers will also be supported to register farm
trees on their farms so they have ownership and
bargaining rights against timber merchants.

The combination of these interventions is expected

to motivate cocoa farmers to lead the charge in
providing vegetation cover for the cocoa industry.
This associated with the other interventions in the
sector should lead to more sustained cocoa farming
and its attendant benefits to both farmers and the
economy in general. It is also expected to give a
major boost to the climate protection agenda.

The launch of these initiatives on Friday will mark

the beginning of the full roll out and cocoa farmers
nationwide are expected to take advantage of it.

Government expects that its myriad of cocoa

interventions including hand pollination, fertilizer
subsidies, extension officers technical support and
favourable pricing will continue to reward the
hardworking Ghanaian Cocoa farmer.
3. Government rallies support for the election of
MMDCEs

The Information Services Dept has commenced a

campaign on the upcoming national refrerendum
on the election of MMDCEs by universal adult
suffrage. The referendum is for the amendment of
Article 55(3) of the constitution to allow for the
public election of MMDCEs.

President Akufo-Addo promised that he will ensure

a shift from the current system of appointing DCEs
which some have argued makes a President too
powerful and prevents MMDCEs from being
directly accountable to the people. In fulfilment of
this the administration has completed all its
consultations and preparatory works. The
referendum is expected to come off on 17th Dec
alongside the district level elections. To secure a yes
vote there will need to be a 40% turn out at least
out of which 75% vote yes.

This requires high levels of public education and

campaigns to get people fully sensitized to take up
this rare opportunity in which a sitting President
devolves power to the citizens. The constitution
1992 is critized for giving all powers to the
President. President Akufo-Addo in fulfilment of his
promise is working to reverse that at least in the
area of decentralization and requires our full
support to achieve that.

Government is urging particularly the media and

civil society groups to join in this campaign. This is
necessary to deepen our democracy and give more
power to the people. All Stakeholders are
encouraged to take an interest in this referendum
and campaign for a yes vote to ensure its success.