Joyce Bawah Mogtari, an aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, has stated that President Nana Akufo-Addo’s is pretending to revamp the fight against illegal small-scale mining activities (galamsey) maybe because he is eyeing monies from global climate action fund. Speaking on the October 10 edition of Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, the aide explained that President Akufo-Addo has never been interested in the fight against the menace. She suggested that President Akufo-Addo has rather shielded party bigwigs who have been named in multiple reports, stressing that that more will be done to combat galamsey if the president leaves the scene. “If he leaves the scene now, I can bet you a lot more will be done to stem galamsey,” Bawah Mogtari said. The former deputy Transport Minister added that President Akufo-Addo should have resigned over his failed fight after he placed his presidency on the line to combat galamsey. She emphasized that the country ought to put an end to paying lip service to what she describes as an “existential threat.” "President Akufo-Addo has no intention. He never intended. It was never part of his plan. I am almost certain that maybe there is some climate funds available that he wants to collect so he has to make an effort and pretend that he is fighting galamsey. That’s all it is. Oh yes. It is a mere huff and puff. “He means absolutely nothing. We were supposed to put our jobs on the line…in fact, he should have been resigning by now. At least tell us that I am a very proud man, that I have failed in my fight against galamsey; in any case I have failed in the other things I promised to do so let me go home and rest. But of course his Vice President is the same. Let’s stop paying lip service to the realities on the ground,” she said. “This is a serious existential threat that we all are grappling with. I think that pretending to fight it is even a lot worse. You should just do nothing then so at least we know you are doing nothing,” Bawah Mogtari added. Background President Akufo-Addo met with the National House of Chiefs on October 5 to seek their renewed support in dealing with the galamsey menace. In an address, the president expressed concerns over galamsey activities which he admitted has been a lost battle over the years. He said even though he put his presidency on the line to combat the menace in 2017, it results has not been what he expected. The president said he paid an electoral price for his fight as he lost votes and, in some cases, NPP MPs in the 7th Parliament lost their reelection bid in mining communities. He stated that the fight against illegal mining can only be won with the support of chiefs as well as depoliticizing the fight. “It can only succeed if it is a truly national battle that no one seeks to exploit for political gain, as we saw in the last election. The progress of our country depends on all of us, all citizens of Ghana, all Fellow Ghanaians, pulling together to defeat this existential threat to our future,” President Akufo-Addo said. Ghana has over the last few years been waging war on the activities of illegal miners, however, it is widely believed that the fight has not yielded the desired results. The discolored nature of water bodies as well as general environmental degradation has been used as a testament to the failed fight. Watch the latest episode of BizTech below: DS/SARA