President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) had given up on the fight for illegal small scale mining known as 'galamsey' when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) took office in 2017.

According to him, 'galamsey' activities were much rampant across the country under the NDC and the situation was deemed as intolerable.

"When we came into office, 'galamsey' activities were rampant across the country. The previous NDC government had given up the fight. We deemed, however, that the situation was intolerable."

"After about a year of our fight against galamsey, we made some progress."

"It would be unrealistic to suggest that there should be no mining in Ghana. Our battle was not against mining itself. However, taking the minerals out should not lead to the pollution of our water bodies and the destruction of our forests," he said.

President Akufo-Addo said this on the floor of parliament when he made the State of the Nation Address in Accra on February 20.

This year’s State of the Nation Address is Akufo-Addo’s fourth and last in his first term as President of the Republic.

His address is in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.

The address is to update Ghanaians on the government’s progress and outline plans for the next financial year.

The president’s speech covers, in broad terms, areas such as the economy, education, health, security and infrastructure.