The Director of Elections of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has slammed the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for its handling of the galamsey menace.
He said the government and members of the NPP are using illegal mining to enrich themselves.
Speaking on Citi TV in Accra, the former Sports Minister said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is complicit in the menace.
“When we look at the status of water bodies, we see a total difference from what we saw during the NDC administration. The NPP has completely failed. The NPP as a party sees galamsey as an avenue to enrich themselves. The galamsey issue is more political than we see it. It is a party problem. The NPP is using it to raise money with the intention of buying its way through the elections. This government is the biggest failure in the history of this party”.
“The situation we are facing now can be likened to a patient and a doctor. In this case, the NPP is the doctor whereas the country is the patient. This doctor keeps misapplying treatment and the patient is in a coma. We need to change the doctor. Once we do this, the new doctor will quickly come in and stop the bleeding. The country is bleeding profusely,” he added.
Earlier this week, the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker denied allegations that he engages in galamsey.
He said he does not own a concession and has never engaged in what is popularly known as galamsey.
Reacting to an allegation made by Nana Nyowah Panyin IV, the Chief of Dompim-Pepesa in the Tarkwa municipality, Mireku Duker stated that the allegation levelled against him were unfounded.
“I do not own a concession, I do not have a concession, I do not invest into any mining of any kind and I am not into mining. Let me make that clear and I have said this time and again that mining is not done in a hidden place, it is done in an open place.
“You cannot just speculate if you know a concession owned by Mireku Duker everybody will testify, the community will testify…You know it is also a strategy to in a way distort your assignment, your focus and all that…,” George Mireku Duker said in a Joy News report.
The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources is of the view that the traditional ruler is throwing this allegation at him because the chief is his distant nephew and he [Mireku Duker] did not support his bid to ascend the throne.
Pulse
