Kwaku Gyasi, a communication team member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has stated that former President John Dramani Mahama and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), should be blamed for the rampant engagement in illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, which is destroying the country’s resources.

According to him, it would be inappropriate to blame the NPP and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the menace.

He asserted that the president has been instrumental in the fight against galamsey since taking office in 2017.

He, however, argued that the activities have become rampant because of John Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2024 election. He argued that Mahama in 2020 promised he would grant all galamseyers amnesty if he won power.

“The NDC during the 2020 elections went to the most prone galamsey areas to deceive them that they would be given amnesty, which was a reckless comment.

“So, when people call for Nana Addo to resign, it is funny because the person who must be called to order is John Dramani Mahama over his reckless comment on galamsey issues during the 2020 elections, not Akufo-Addo," he said.

He explained that this comment has fueled the activities of illegal mining in the country.

“So, we know that before the NPP came to power, our farms and river bodies were already destroyed by galamsey," he noted.

Speaking on a panel discussion on Net2 TV on September 10, 2024, he stated, “It is important that we discuss galamsey issues because it is destroying our water bodies and other resources, but attention has been diverted from the real issues.

"The real issue is that everyone has the responsibility to protect our environment, and as a result, President Akufo-Addo vowed with his presidency to fight galamsey. It took only the NPP government to really show commitment to fight galamsey.

“The Chinese who came to the country in large numbers to engage in galamsey arrived around 2013, 2014, and 2015, and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government has helped to deport many of them, including Aisha Huang."

AM/BB

Watch the latest episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below: