The deputy minister for Lands and Natural Resources in charge of mines, George Mireku Duker has said he is ready to face prosecution if evidence proves that he is guilty of illegal mining.
“And to somebody who has been going round, educating people about the need for us to mine and mine responsibly, I wouldn’t involve myself in that [illegal mining],” Duker said on Townhall Talk on Asaase 99.5 Accra.
“The person who started the accusation is my own nephew, who went against me in the 2020 election. Even when I sent President Akufo-Addo to my hometown to commission One District One Factory he hired people to stop the meeting,” the deputy minister alleged.
“But this is a nephew who is so bitter that I did not support him to become a chief after my tenure. The platform he used has also been asked to retract and I have given them 24 hours to apologise and if they don’t do that I will sue them accordingly.
“If me, Mireku Duker, who is the deputy minister responsible for mining, the least I could do is to persuade my minister, if I want to mine, to sign concession for me, and I believe my minister will do that for me to go and mine… So, it doesn’t add up,” Duker told Beatrice Adu on Friday (14 October).
“Don’t forget that I used to be a chief of the community and I had to abdicate my seat just to contest as a Member of Parliament and I can tell you that I would have started mining before I became an MP. So, why will I become an MP and become a deputy minister responsible for mining and engage in illegal mining?” he asked.
Duker said his detractors are finding ways to derail him.
“So, as for speculations we will provide the platform for him to give the proof. I am not above the law, if it comes out that the deputy minister responsible for mining is mining in a forest reserve, the law must deal with me. Nobody should be above the law,”
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Asaase Radio 99.5 broadcasts on radio via 99.5 in Accra, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 100.3 in Cape Coast and on our affiliates Bawku FM 101.5 in Bawku, Beats FM 99.9 in Bimbilla, Somua FM 89.9 in Gushegu, Stone City 90.7 in Ho, Mining City 89.5 in Tarkwa and Wale FM 106.9 in Walewale
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