Aspiring General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has asserted that the party cannot be placed on the same pedestal as the New Patriotic Party when it comes to combating illegal small-scale mining (galamsey).
In his view, the governing party has failed in its quest to eliminate the illicit activities which has rendered negatively impacted on farmlands and water bodies.
Speaking to Accra-based Citi TV on October 11, the current Director of Elections of the NDC said the NPP instead of fighting galamsey was rather using it as an avenue to raise money to buy their way in elections.
He said the NPP’s failure in fighting galamsey was a reflection of how it has failed to manage everything in the country, ranging from the economy to environmental issues.
“You look at the status of the waterbodies, just basic. When we were in office…when we were leaving and you look at the aerial photography. This is practical, look at the aerial photographs when this government took office and what it is today.
“It is a complete failure and the reason is that the NPP as a party has seen the galamsey as part of a way to raise money for their party. You have heard audios. People were captured on audio and video saying 'party no hia sika' [the party needs money].
“It is the kingpins of the party. Hanson Mining who does it belong to? Or their party women’s organizer and all those people and even now the biggest deception is that they went and brought equipment which they call mercury-free equipment to solve the galamsey problem.
“Who are the people they distributed that equipment to? Their party apparatchiks. So it is a party problem. The NPP is using that to raise money with the deluded notion that once they have enough money, they can buy their way through any election.
“The people of Ghana are waiting for them. The failure of the fight against the galamsey is a microcosm of the failure of the government to manage anything. This government is an utter failure, the biggest failure in the history of this country,” Elvis Afriyie Ankrah said.
Akufo-Addo courts House of Chiefs support anti-galamsey fight
President Akufo-Addo in an address to the National House of Chiefs expressed concerns over galamsey activities which he admits has been a lost battle over the years.
He said even though he put his presidency on the line to combat the menace in 2017, it results has not been what he expected.
The president said he paid an electoral price for his fight as he lost votes and, in some cases, NPP MPs in the 7th Parliament lost their reelection bid in mining communities.
He stated that the fight against illegal mining can only be won with the support of chiefs as well as stamping out politics from it.
“It can only succeed if it is a truly national battle that no one seeks to exploit for political gain, as we saw in the last election. The progress of our country depends on all of us, all citizens of Ghana, all Fellow Ghanaians, pulling together to defeat this existential threat to our future,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Ghana has been waging war on the activities of illegal miners however it is widely believed that the fight has not yielded the desired results.
The general environmental degradation has been cited as a sign of the failed fight.
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DS/SARA
Aspiring NDC General Secretary, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah