President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has slammed former President John Dramani Mahama for exploiting the campaign against illegal mining (galamsey) during the 2020 electioneering campaign.
The fight against galamsey, he said should be non-partisan regardless of being in power or not and stressed the campaign will only be successful if it is truly national with no one seeking to exploit it for political gain.
He cautioned that the progress of the country depends on all citizens pulling together to defeat this existential threat to the Ghanaian future.
Addressing the House of Chiefs and MMDCES on the galamsey menace in Kumasi on Thursday, 5th October 2022 President Akufo-Addo stated the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is not against mining but cannot accept mining in a manner that risks destroying the country.
He averred that since taking office on 7th January 2017 he has made it a central feature of his presidency to lead in the efforts to rid our country of the galamsey menace.
“Indeed, it was an important aspect of my inaugural address of that day.”
“It has not been easy, it has not been popular, and we have not gotten the immediate results that I was looking for.”
“Indeed, in the last elections of 2020, my stance on the issue cost my party and me significant losses in the mining communities. It turned out that my statement that I was putting my presidency on the line in the fight against galamsey was neither bombast nor recklessness. It was a simple truth.”
According to him, Ghana has always been a mining nation adding, “That is why in the 15th century, when the first Europeans, the Portuguese, came to our shores, they called the first European-influenced town, Elmina, meaning ‘the mine’ in Portuguese, because, from their ships as they approached our shores, that is the activity they saw our people engaged in.”
“It is not surprising that in colonial times, we were called the Gold Coast.”
The NPP government, he said, has tried many initiatives, including the Community Mining Scheme and the establishment of a new legal regime for dealing with the perpetrators of this phenomenon.
He noted that the law imposes severe sanctions on Ghanaians and foreigners alike convicted of illegal mining and yet the state has not won the fight against galamsey.
The President averred that if the state is to win the fight it needs close collaboration to do so hence the meeting with the Chiefs and the MMDCEs where mining activities take place.
“I ask all of you to join hands with me in the fight against illegal mining, in order to bring an end to the devastation of our landscape and the pollution of our water bodies.”
“We have to win that fight to keep our environment clean and protect our heritage for our descendants, as you did in the past,” he appealed.
