The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has charged President Nana Akufo-Addo to show more commitment to deal with illegal mining.

According to ASEPA, it was time for the president to be proactive beyond rhetoric in order to deal with the menace.

“Illegal mining or 'galamsey' continues to claim the sanctity of our lands, water bodies, and vegetation and the practice continues to take root in our system because presidents over the years have not demonstrated enough goodwill to deal with the problem and the current president is not any different,” a statement signed and released on Monday, March 3, by Thompson Mensah, the Executive Secretary of ASEPA, stated.

The statement alleged that illegal miners financed political parties, making it difficult for politicians to summon the will to end ‘galamsey’.

“Galamsey operators have been found to be ardent financiers of political parties and the President and his party have benefitted either directly or indirectly from the benevolence of these illegal operators,” the statement added.

Operations of galamseyers have led to the destruction of the environment. Several water bodies, aquatic life, fertile land, and some individuals have been adversely affected by the activities of the illegal miners.

ASEPA is calling for a collaborative effort of all stakeholders to ensure that the practice comes to a halt.

Below is the full statement:

THE PRESIDENT LACKS THE WILL TO FIGHT 'GALAMSEY' – ASEPA

Illegal mining or 'galamsey' continues to claim the sanctity of our lands, water bodies and vegetation and the practice continues to take root in our system because Presidents over the years have not demonstrated enough goodwill to deal with the problem and the current President is not any different.

In the past few days the issue has been ignited in the media and the general public due to evident destructions caused by these 'galamsey' operators particularly to our water bodies. Over the weekend the President had the opportunity to address the media in the Ashanti Region where the menace is really thriving and that was a great opportunity for the president to specifically outline policy and defensive measures initiated by his government to deal with the menace but the president chose to engage in rhetoric talks as if to trivialise this serious cancer that is threatening the core of our existence as Ghanaians.

Galamsey operators have been found to be ardent financiers of political parties and the President and his party has benefitted either directly or indirectly from the benevolence of these illegal operators

How ironical that at the time the President sought to address the issue over the weekend, seated on his side was the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP who is a known 'small-scale miner' who is directly or indirectly involved in this menace.

Where lies the will of our President who have all the powers in the world to make this menace go away but choose to engage in Public relation gymnastics instead of addressing the problem head on.

We continue to call on all well-meaning Ghanaians both home and abroad to wake up, because this galamsey menace has moved beyond a mere breach of our minerals act to a national security threat and if measures are not put in place to address the menace then we are putting ourselves and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren at a serious risk.

We have to continue putting pressure on these politicians who are also direct beneficiaries of these galamsey activities to do the right thing and save our country.

The galamsey menace can be addressed or minimized through policy direction and job creation coupled with strict enforcement of our environmental safety regulations.

As we continue our anti galamsey campaign this week and we continue our public advocacy and education this week ,we also want to see clear cut actions from the side of government to complement the effort ourself and other civil society organisations are putting in to curb the menace to protect our environment for posterity.

Signed:
Mensah Thompson
Executive Secretary -ASEPA