The Head of the Centre for European Studies at the University of Cape Coast, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, has slammed the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh Dompreh, over his defence of the performance of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government in the fight against illegal mining, known commonly as galamsey.

Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, on the pollution of water bodies in the country by galamsey, the Majority Chief Whip, who is also the Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, asserted that the opposition National Democratic Congress is more to be blamed for the pollution of the water bodies.

He claimed that the water bodies were more polluted by galamsey during the era of the NDC than they are now.

“If we are to look and investigate both sides of the House (NPP and NDC), I can tell you that the NDC polluted the water more than us. So, let’s get matters straight,” he said.

Reacting to this in an interview on JoyNews on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, Dr Asah-Asante, a political scientist, condemned the MP for his remarks.

“I listened to Annoh-Dompreh and it’s a very sorry statement he made. That he is so proud to say that yes, there is pollution, we did lesser than the other party. This is a very shameful statement – very, very. You have a problem like this and you want to boldly say that we did and we did lesser."

He further asserted that the Majority Chief Whip should rather be telling Ghanaians what the government is doing to resolve the issues.

He added that Ghanaians have already started suffering and would suffer more in the future due to the pollution caused by galamsey and the issue must be taken seriously.

“I wanted him to say something different that, 'Look, we are sorry, we will put our acts together and then we will work and reverse this situation.' But you are so proud that you have done little.

“And who measures what you have done? The effect is what we see at the Renal Department. The effect is what we see at what the head of the Atomic Energy Commission is saying that it’s cancer that takes a long time. Today, you consume something which is infected and you get the effect in ten years’ time. This should occupy the attention of the MP and the government and the people of this country. We think that money is everything, let me go for money. If you go for money and there is no society, where will you live? You will run away,” he explained.



BAI/AE

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