Ahmed Ibrahim led a team to investigate “Tax for Galamsey” exposé

The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim, has been directed by President John Dramani Mahama to lead a team to conduct immediate investigations into allegations that the Amansie Central District Assembly has been collecting fees from illegal miners operating banned mining equipment.

The directive follows the airing of a damning Hotline Documentary exposé by Accra-based JoyNews that uncovered what it described as a “tax for galamsey” in the Amansie Central district in the Ashanti Region, where miners allegedly pay GH₵6,000 annually to operate prohibited changfang machines with the tacit approval of local authorities.

The investigative documentary revealed that despite a nationwide ban on the use of changfangs, a mechanised floating platforms that wash gold directly in water bodies, the Amansie Central District Assembly has allegedly formed a task force to issue stickers and levy taxes on the prohibited equipment.

The report captured evidence of a structured payment system where miners are charged thousands of cedis per year to operate these machines, essentially granting them a license to pollute critical water sources.

A revenue officer popularly known as “Red” was featured prominently in the recordings, collecting payments from operators of the banned equipment.

In response to the allegations, the Amansie Central District Assembly denied that it created the system to profit from illegal mining.

The Assembly insisted that revenue collection from operators of earth-moving equipment has been a longstanding practice spanning multiple administrations, dating back to 2008.

“The current administration did not introduce this system. It inherited an already existing administrative arrangement,” the Assembly stated, describing the exposé as a misrepresentation of an old administrative practice “to suit a convenient political narrative.”

The Assembly maintained that the revenue collection is based on a bylaw passed in 2008 and that all monies collected are paid directly into its official account at Odotobri Rural Bank.

The Minister, earlier on Tuesday, received a petition from JoyNews on the matter and pledged to look into it with dispatch.

By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH