In spite of the setbacks and controversy surrounding the fight against illegal mining (galamsey), government over the weekend donated some 10 speedboats to authorities in the Nzema Municipality and Shama District in the Western in furtherance of the fight against illegal mining on rivers Ankobra and Pra.

The Minister of Environment Science Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, who heads the Inter Ministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining made the donation on behalf of government.

Recent controversies over missing excavators that had been seized from illegal miners have had Ghanaians doubting the commitment of government to the fight.

The missing excavators, it has come to light, were either given back to the illegal miners at an exorbitant fee or were handed over to members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to engage in illegal mining themselves.

Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) held a press conference yesterday lambasting government over its failure to fight illegal mining even after much expenditure on its fight.

National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi in his address to the media alleged that the fight against illegal mining was a scheme to handover the illegal but profitable business to cronies of the ruling party.

“President Akufo-Addo’s failed fight against “galamsey” was nothing but a ruse calculated to monopolize the galamsey trade for top NPP officials and their foreign collaborators,” the party alleged.

“The current state of affairs reflects the failure of President Akufo-Addo’s so called fight against galamsey. In fact, that so called fight turned out to be a ruse to kick out legal small scale miners and artisanal “galamseyers” and replace them with a new breed of marauding illegal miners belonging to the ruling New Patriotic Party and government.

Ladies and gentlemen, it does appear that the public discourse about President’s Akufo-Addo’s failed fight against “Galamsey” He added.