Accra, Ghana, April 27, 2019//-The two major parties in the country – the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) – are as they always do locked in policy disagreement.
This time it is on the fight against illegal small scale mining popularly known as “galamsey”.
This follows recent revealed by Ghana’s Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo that the notorious Chinese illegal miner was allegedly sacrificed for the Ghana-Synohydro bauxite deal.
Osafo Marfo’s assertion that jailing Aisha Haung would not develop Ghana, is not only unpardonable but a betrayal of the authority vested in him as the Senior Minister by the Republic.
He is making this assertion at a time that over one thousand Ghanaian youth have been arrested, tried and jailed for engaging in illegal mining.
The NDC is deriding the government for failing the fight against galamsey. The government refutes the claim saying it is on the road to success.
Speaking at its 4th Moment of Truth session in Accra on April 23. 2019, Sammy Gyamfi, NDC National Communications Officer, said, “It is worthy of note, that owing to the fight against galamsey, the Akufo-Addo government banned legal small scale mining for almost two years. In the process, some Ghanaian small-scale miners were shot and killed at their duly licensed mining sites.”
“Sadly, this is where we are today; the fight against illegal mining remains far from being won. In fact, the fight is in the final rounds of glaring defeat. The reason is obvious: the Akufo-Addo government was never committed to it in the first place”, he stated.
Mr Gyamfi said pieces of available evidence pointed to the fact that the fight against illegal mining was heading in the wrong direction.
“Today, the Inter-Ministerial Committee against Illegal mining and Operation Vanguard have been turned into an active vehicle for facilitating and promoting illegal mining. This has increased the spate of illegal mining in the country and has intensified the degradation of our forests and water bodies”, he noted
Again, a group calling itself NDC Professionals Forum with Ambassador Sam Pee Yalley as president joined the assault on government by saying, “The fight against galamsey appears to be a facade and the Inter – Ministerial Committee appeared to have created a hijacked playing field for corruption by NPP bigwigs”.
Reacting to the opposition’s claim that the galamsey fight was becoming a charade, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, described the claim as unwarranted.
The Minister stressed that the government was steadfast in its commitment to the fight against illegal mining and disclosed that achievements so far chalked included the confiscation of excavators nationwide and the banning of further importation of new excavators.
He noted that, “Though some miscreants are believed to be still operating in far off forests, they continue to be pursued by the joint security teams regularly. The openly visible illegal mining operations nationwide are no longer witnessed”
He pointed out that, “The regular reports of galamsey deaths visible on the media landscape are now a thing of the past signaling that the foundation activity has been significantly quelled”.
“It is therefore unwarranted for anyone to describe the fight against galamsey as a failed one and a betrayal of the trust of the Ghanaian people.
The converse is rather the fact on the ground and the Government will continue to rely on the support of the public to deal with this menace that threatens the survival of our country”, he said.
Like George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ the two leading entities continue their “holier than thou” attitudes while the masses wait bemused for solution to the galamsey menace that is wreaking havoc on the country’s environment and water bodies.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
Email: mk68008@gmail.com
