After benefitting, you want us to dialogue – NDC’s Akamba to Akufo-Addo on galamsey forum

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s initiative for National Consultative Dialogue on Small-Scale Mining as another scam to deceive Ghanaians on his lukewarm attitude to fighting the menace.

National Organizer Joshua Akamba, speaking on Akoma FM’s morning show GhanAkoma, explained that “NDC has no interest in the National Dialogue on small scale mining and that is why none of us was present at the forum. In fact, the last time the party’s National Executives met we didn’t even discuss it as part of our agenda.”

Mr. Akamba is of the view that after the president and his compatriots have benefited from galamsey and milked the land and devastated the country’s water bodies, the National Dialogue on Small-Scale Mining is another business as usual.

President Akufo-Addo, during State of the Nation Address early this year, called for an open and non-partisan approach in tackling the galamsey menace and subsequently on Wednesday, April 14 launched a two-day National Consultative Dialogue on small-scale mining at the Accra International Conference Centre to solicit views, proposals and suggestions from diverse stakeholders in the small-scale mining industry, to develop appropriate policy interventions for the sector.

But the major opposition party, NDC, was conspicuously missing after shooting down the national approach to fighting the menace.

They had described it as a scam and a deliberate move to place family and friends at vantage positions within the sector.

Mr Akamba further explained that “if the president is indeed committed to this cause, he should have tried and convicted some indicted members within his government who were captured on video collecting bribe to allow people to indulge in the menace”.

“So, for some of us we don’t take the president serious when he comes up with such antics,” he added.

Meanwhile, Deputy General Secretary for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Obiri Boahen, with a counter submission, entreated the NDC to avoid painting national issues with party colors rather.

“We will be doing ourselves more harm if national security issues like galamsey is seen with partisan spectacles.”