Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, says President Akufo-Addo’s statement about putting his presidency on the line in the fight against ‘galamsey’ was merely a tactic to gain favour from the public.
According to him, when the president made such comments, the country was grappling with the menace, so he saw it as a good opportunity to begin his tenure on a positive note.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Braimah justified his assertion with a report by the former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Professor Frimpong Boateng.
On April 20, 2023, the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation named some top government officials as being complicit in the illegal mining menace.
The renowned heart surgeon indicated that the rot goes as high as the seat of government, the Jubilee House.
In this regard, Mr Braimah said “In my view, not just this incident but realistically speaking I think that we lost the battle way back,” he said.
“In my view, that was some grandstanding on the part of the president because you only have to read Professor Frimpong Boateng’s reports to conclude that it was either some public deception activity that was happening or politics as usual,” he told host Samson Lardy Anyenini on June 15.
Additionally, Braimah said the IMCIM faced stiff opposition from some legislators and government officials in its work.
He added that during some of the committee’s visits, they found that some illegal miners were protected by the military to undertake their mining activities.
Sulemana Braimah also noted that, beyond the report, a visit to forest reserves showed significant environmental devastation. He believes this raises questions about how the same individual who put his presidency on the line remains in office while these activities persist.
Further, he said most mining in forest reserves cannot happen without the president’s permission.
As such, he asked, “How do they believe that yes, there is that commitment to this whole mining activities and of course it is complex.”
Myjoyonline
