The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has refuted reports blaming the military for Ghana’s failed fight against illegal mining (galamsey).

The reports, widely circulated in the media, suggest that the military is to be held responsible for failures in the galamsey fight and has been attributed to the sector minister, Samuel Jinapor during a press update last Thursday.

In a statement, the Ministry said “for the avoidance of doubt, the Minister did not say the military is to be blamed for any failures in the fight against illegal mining”.

It clarified that, what the Minister said was to the effect that the military has been put fully in charge of the operations on the ground.

“The above comments have obviously been misunderstood by a section of the media”, the statement added.