The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has alleged that President John Dramani Mahama is unable to take decisive action against illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, due to his political affiliations with those involved in the practice.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV, Ahiagbah claimed that Mahama’s administration has been lenient on galamsey, allowing the problem to worsen.
“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,” he asserted.
He argued that Mahama’s political engagements limit his ability to take immediate and aggressive action against illegal mining. “Where he is now, he cannot do anything, at least in the short term, to aggressively attack these galamsey people.”
While acknowledging that illegal mining has been a long-standing issue, Ahiagbah criticized the broader governmental response, stating that while strong statements are made, there are no effective measures in place to combat the issue.
“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.”
He further called for a non-partisan approach to addressing illegal mining. “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.”
Ahiagbah concluded by insisting that the worsening state of illegal mining is tied to the political interests of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). “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.”
