Former PNC General Secretary, Atik Mohammed, has commended the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor over his tenacity to end galamsey (illegal gold mining) in Ghana.

The minister is on a mission to stop all illegal miners and has engaged the mining stakeholders with the aim to resolve the menace.

As part of his commitment, he has fully backed the joint military task force operations of the Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Navy and Ghana Air Force by burning excavators used in illegal mining and also remove the illegal miners with the full backing of the President.

Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' program, Atik Mohammed encouraged the minister not to renege on his promise to end the galamsey menace.

"I am encouraged looking at his enthusiasm in working. I'm happy and he's not like an arm-chair kind of minister. He's someone who makes the move; he's in the field and that is the kind of ministers I'm looking for."

"Let nobody kid himself into thinking that this country doesn't need fixing. In fact, this country needs a lot of fixing but is government making an effort towards that? Maybe yes! But how would we know? If you're a minister and you sit in your office and all you know is to sign papers but you don't go to the field, Ghanaians might not see what you're doing.

"That's why I'm saying that I'm excited about what Abu is doing. He's shown that he's a young person who enthused about his work and he's really determined to make sure that he makes a difference. And I am very happy that he's flying high the flag of the youth. He's representing the youth agenda very well and I am excited," he emphasized.