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ADNews- Monrovia, Liberia: The government’s ambition to eradicate illicit mining across Liberia under the Presidential Task Force on Combating Illicit Mining, known as the Protect Our Resources Task Force (PORT), requires more attention to its effectiveness, fairness, and commitment to holding powerful interests accountable.
The task force, headed by controversial security figure Abraham Kromah, risks losing public confidence if its operations continue to focus primarily on ordinary miners while influential individuals allegedly involved in large-scale illegal mining remain untouched.
While the arrest and public exposure of suspected local illicit miners may give the impression that the government is making progress, a more fundamental question remains: Is the task force genuinely dismantling the powerful networks behind illegal mining, or is it merely targeting those at the bottom of the chain?
Protecting Liberia’s mineral wealth requires more than roadside arrests, public announcements, and the humiliation of small-scale miners. It demands a coordinated and transparent enforcement strategy capable of confronting the financial and political networks that sustain illicit mining.
Kromah’s leadership also deserves serious public scrutiny, particularly considering the controversies and criticisms surrounding his previous security assignments within the Liberia National Police and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA).
The concern is that the current operation could become another mere bluff by showing on camera vulnerable, powerless, unskilled local miners, if the task force fails to confront the influential individuals benefiting from illicit mining activities.
One of the most pressing questions concerns mining operators who use Class C mining licences to conduct activities requiring Class B licences, while others operate beyond the authorization granted under their Class B licences.
Why have such operators not been arrested and exposed while enforcement is directed at ordinary miners?
Another important question that Kromah and the task force must answer is: Where are the excavators and other heavy-duty mining equipment seized since the operation began?
Reports alleging that some government officials and prominent businesspeople have excavators and other heavy-duty mining equipment operating in forested areas further raise concerns about whether influential interests are receiving preferential treatment.
For Abraham Kromah, the challenge is not simply to demonstrate authority through the arrest of ordinary miners. It is to prove that the Protect Our Resources Taskforce can enforce the law without fear or favor, regardless of the political connections, financial standing, or social influence of those involved.
Ultimately, the success or failure of PORT will not be determined by the number of ordinary miners paraded before the public, but by whether the government can dismantle the powerful networks responsible for depriving Liberia of its mineral wealth.
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