The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has alleged that President John Dramani Mahama is unable to take firm action against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, due to his political ties with those involved in the practice.
Speaking on the Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Wednesday, April 2, Ahiagbah claimed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) actively sought support from galamsey operators during the 2020 election, making it difficult for them to clamp down on the activity.
“President Mahama is very soft on galamsey, and it has worsened under him because he is compromised by many of the things he said on the campaign platform. They actively campaigned for galamsey votes in 2020.
“So, where he is now, he cannot do anything, at least in the short term, to aggressively attack these galamsey people,” he stated.
Ahiagbah further suggested that while strong public statements are being made about fighting galamsey, the necessary actions to address the crisis are not being effectively implemented on the ground.
“In my assessment, strong statements are one thing, but the mechanisms on the ground to deal with these matters are not there. Galamsey is worse today, and we are threatening our existence with this galamsey issue.
“Granted, galamsey didn’t start today, and we need to fight it. At that level, I say let’s deal with the issue outside of politics because they interlace.
“The idea that galamsey is getting worse is because the NDC had a tacit benefit from the galamseyers, and they cannot do anything immediately to deal with them,” he concluded.