Minister-Designate for Railway Development has debunked claims that he seized excavators belonging to illegal miners during his tenure as the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.

According to John Peter Amewu, contrary to the allegations, he rather "asked for withdrawal of excavators from mining sites."

His comments come on the back of questions by Asawase MP, Muntaka Mubarak surrounding the whereabouts of some missing excavators back in 2017.

He explained that, seizing excavators from mining sites is the duty of the AG department and therefore has no knowledge about the happenings following his instruction.

"What happened thereafter was the seizure which went through other processes because as a Minister you cannot seize excavators, excavators from mining sites can only be seized with the regulatory frame work right from the AG’s department and that is the process," he added.

On President Akufo-Addo's assumption of office in 2016, he instituted the Operation Vanguard Taskforce with the mandate of of clamping down on illegal mining activities by arresting perpetrators across the country.

However, a number of the excavators found at the illegal mining sites that were seized by the task force were later reported missing triggering concerns over the effectiveness of the fight against the menace.

The Minority and some civil society organisations have since demanded investigations into the development while calling for sanctions against persons behind the disappearance of the heavy-duty machines.