The former Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has berated ex-President John Dramani Mahama for saying that he will release Ghanaian illegal miners who have been jailed when he comes to power.
According to him, the former president and members of the NDC have resorted to playing dirty politics just to win political power and it is his wish that the party will never come to power.
In a Peace FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Allotey Jacobs added that the opposition party is making all sorts of promises just to derail the current government’s fight against illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’.
“A video on social media showed that former president saying that he will release all ‘galamseyers’ should he come to power. Other NDC members including Tony Aubyn and Kweku Boahene have also made that statement.
“This certainly tells you that we are playing dirty politics in this country just for the sake of power. Members of the opposition party are now saying that they will make sure that illegal miners are back in their field, forgetting that this menace has destroyed all our water bodies. After this, they are the same people who will ask why the Ghana Water Company is increasing tariffs, knowing very well that the cost of treating water has increased due to the menace of ‘galamsey’.
“Do we love this country at all? Just because Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is fighting ‘galamsey’, the opposition is doing all it can to derail his efforts. We are playing politics with this matter, we are not looking into the future. God forbid that they (the NDC) come to power,” he said in Twi.
In October 2020, John Dramani Mahama indicated that his government will grant amnesty to persons who have been arrested in connection with illegal mining.
According to him, the New Patriotic Party has been biased with the arrest of citizens whilst turning a blind eye to foreigners who are equally involved in illegal mining.
“It’s sad. The government said it was fighting galamsey and they arrested, prosecuted, and jailed Ghanaians who were engaged in that activity but left the Chinese woman… when we come, we shall grant all those arrested and jailed some amnesty,” said Mr. Mahama during his tour in the Western Region.
